Stranger
by Quiet.Flight.Risk
Summary: When Caroline decides to leave town, Klaus convinces her to follow him to New Orleans. What, or who, will she find there and will Klaus get her to see there's more to him than the Big Bad Hybrid? AU from 4x21
1. Decisions

**Stranger**

_**Chapter 1:**_

**A/N: Hi! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving this story a chance. This story sprang from my dying hope that they'll announce that Caroline will be a regular in the spin-off, the Originals, last minute. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, OBVIOUSLY.**

It was later that night that Caroline remembered her promise to her mom: she would get her out of town. She couldn't sleep after that. All she wanted to do was pack her mom's stuff up in her car and send her off to she-didn't-know-where. But she forced herself to remain in bed until the next morning, when she heard her mom pad about the kitchen.

She flashed out of bed, arriving exactly as Liz Forbes was pouring her coffee into a thermos. With a smile she said, "Good morning, sweetheart."

Her mother wasn't stupid. She could tell from her daughter's face that Caroline was about to bring up something serious. Bubbly, on-top-of-the-world Caroline always had that face when she was frustrated about something. Liz could guess that it had something to do with how she'd almost died last night at the hands of Silas.

"Mom," Caroline started, "I think it would be better if you didn't go into work today."

Liz looked at her quizzically. "In a town that's full of vampires, the sheriff can't just randomly take a sick day, honey." She turned her attention back to the thermos, which she closed and packed in her bag for work. Caroline's hand moved across the table to rest her hand on her mother's.

"But, Mom, you almost died last night. It's not exactly a random sick day."

"I didn't die, though. And it's my job to make sure that it doesn't happen to anyone else either," Liz explained.

Caroline frowned. "I don't think I've ever been as scared in my life as I was when I didn't know whether you were going to live or die. I don't want to ever feel like that again." She took a deep breath. "I think it would be better if you moved away."

"What?" Liz said, surprised. "I can't just up and leave just like that. I'm the sheriff. Being in danger is part of the job description. Besides, I couldn't leave you."

"Yes, you could. I'm a vampire, Mom. You shouldn't be worrying about me. You've got to go. At least for a bit."

"Caroline, the answer's no."

And, just like that, her mother left the house. Caroline stood there, not sure what to do. She wished for a moment that she could leave town instead. While that wouldn't exactly leave her mom in the utmost safety, at least she wouldn't be killed because of her, like last night. Heading back to her room, she thought about that a little more. After all, what was she staying for anyway? Her friends didn't need her because what on earth could she do to stop Silas? Last night had shown her that. She didn't need to stay because of Tyler anymore either. He was gone.

She couldn't leave before graduation, of course. Come hell or high water, all the world would have to freeze over before she agreed to miss graduation. But she'd applied to a bunch of colleges and she'd gotten into a few of them, including one scholarship, because of her straight-As. Caroline decided then and there that after graduation she would leave town for some school in some state far away.

* * *

Klaus couldn't wrap his head around why he was in his favourite city in the world and yet the only thing he wanted to do was drown his sorrows in alcohol. He didn't know what was worst: having been dethroned as king by Marcel or finding out that Hayley, a werewolf that he despised and had slept with once, was pregnant. Either way, he was going to get very drunk tonight.

"Hey, stranger!" He looked up to see the blonde Psych major he'd talked to on the street the other day. Camille was her name, he remembered.

"Hello," he drawled. "Could you get me something any stronger than this? A good whisky or vodka or something..."

"Hi, well, I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to cut you off. You look way too drunk to be having anything else. You're gonna end up doing somethin' you'll regret."

"Number 1, I never regret anything. Number 2, I'm sure that as a Psychology student, you're clever enough to know when a man could use a bit of liquor to drown his sorrows in. I am unfortunately in this situation right now so if you don't mind, I'd like some of that vodka behind you."

Camille ignored him and went on, "So what are you so damn depressed about anyway?"

"Tell me, love, if you came back to your favourite city in the world to find out that it's changed in a very bad way AND someone who you despise flipped your life upside down, would that be enough to drive you to liquor?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that's sounds pretty awful, so awful that I don't know why you're sticking around New Orleans."

"Because I'm a bloody idiot." He then reached across the bar and grabbed the vintage vodka off the shelf. Cami shrugged, took the money Klaus had put on the counter and then went off to serve some other clients.

About half an hour later, when she was getting ready to close, she noticed that he was still in the same spot and looking dead to the world. Bar policy said that, in such cases, she should try to find the patron's phone and call someone. Luckily Klaus' phone was right there on the counter, next to his wallet and the finished bottle of vintage vodka. Absentmindedly, she scrolled through his past calls. The most popular seemed to be to a 'Caroline Forbes'. She was just about to press the call button when Klaus' hand shot out and latched itself onto her wrist. Cami, surprised, dropped the phone.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he growled.

"Fine! I'm sorry! I'm just supposed to call someone to pick you up, that's all!"

Klaus looked mad, and also very drunk. Cami knew from experience that that was not a good mix. "Rifling through my phone...my phone rec(hiccup)ords is invasion of private...You have no right...!"

Camille was silent for a minute. Softly, she said, "I have to call someone. Is there anyone you want to come and get you?"

For a second, Klaus was going to bark at her but he thought better of it. "Look for Elijah," he sighed, handing her the phone. She took and called his brother, saying that he was drunk and needed someone to pick him up.

"He'll be here in a few minutes," she said to Klaus, handing him a cup of water. Gratefully, he took a long swig. It wasn't long before the bartender struck up a conversation again. "So... who's Caroline?

Klaus let out a long breath. "For starters, I can tell you that you wouldn't have gotten anywhere by calling her, she lives in Virginia. As for who she is, I can't tell you that without ruining what reputation I have around here."

Camille smiled playfully, sensing a good story. "Oh come on, she can't be that bad."

He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open at that point but he answered anyway. "No, she doesn't have a shred of bad in her. That's the problem."

She was very confused but didn't have time to probe him anymore as Elijah walked through the door. When he saw Klaus, he let out a long "oh, brother!"

* * *

After having made her decision to leave town after graduation, her next worry was what she was going to tell her friends. She thought that they might judge her for leaving town when so much was going on or think it was stupid that a vampire was bothering with college. Thankfully, it became very easy to avoid them. The end of senior year is a busy time in anybody's life, particularly if you were part of the supernatural community. Elena was keeping the Salvatore brothers busy because when she had switched her humanity back on she found it hard to keep her bloodlust under control. Similarly, Bonnie was having trouble keeping her Expression under control and had to get help from Abby. Not to mention all the Silas problems.

Caroline herself was juggling her time between studying, graduation committees, organising the after party and preparing her valedictorian speech. While she still spoke to her friends at school, it had been awhile since anything about their lives after high school had come up. That was absolutely A-ok with her.

But about two weeks before graduation, Matt came up to her to ask her if she could help him with Math. Rebekah, his new official study buddy apparently, was going away that weekend to visit her brothers in New Orleans and according to Matt 'wasn't that good at math anyway'. They were sitting in her living room that Saturday when he asked: "So, Care, what are you going to do next year anyway?"

Caroline tried to sound careless. "Um, I'm going to college in Richmond next year."

Matt put that really sweet boyish smile of his and said "Caroline, that's great!" He hugged me. Caroline didn't know why but his enthusiasm kind of stung. She supposed it was because she knew that he hadn't been accepted anywhere and was going to stay in Mystic Falls as a bartender while taking some classes at the local community college. Still, it was heartening that at least one of her friends was open towards her choice.

On Monday, after Matt had boosted her confidence, she talked to Bonnie about her plans. Turned out that Bonnie had also been accepted at Richmond! After that, they spent all their time talking about how great it would be to be roommates and how nice all the classes looked.

Finally, Caroline got up the nerve to talk about it to Elena, Stefan and Damon. It was a week before the graduation ceremony and she was coming by the Boarding House to drop off Elena's robe, which she'd gotten for her when her humanity switch was off. She knocked on the door but only had to wait a second before Elena swung it open.

"Oh, hey, Caroline!" she greeted her.

Caroline put on her brightest smile. "Hi! I've got something for you," she said, handing the box to Elena.

"Thanks." Taking the box inside, Elena lifted the lid to see the dark red graduation gown and matching cap. She grinned but then her face fell. "Caroline, I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it to graduation. There's a lot going on, you know."

Caroline looked shocked. She couldn't believe that her best friend, who had been dreaming about this moment for as long as she had, wanted to throw it all away. "You can't possibly miss graduation. Elena, it's the next step in the rest of our lives. We've been working our butts off for this since freshman year!"

Elena looked distinctly uneasy. "I know, Care, but with everything with Silas going..." she trailed off when she saw Stefan and Damon coming into the room. Damon, of course, ignored her and went straight for the ancient whisky on the coffee table.

"Hi, Caroline," said Stefan, hugging her. "What are you doing here? "

Elena was about to reply but Caroline cut her off. "Well, I was here to drop off Elena's graduation robe but apparently, she won't need it since she's not going!" The irritation in her voice was easily detectable. She fully expected Stefan to be on her side and remind Elena to hold on to her humanity. He didn't do that.

"I don't think it's the best time to be thinking about graduation. I mean, we'll all have hundreds of years to graduate. Right now, we need to think about the best way to deal with the Silas problem."

_Well, this couldn't be going any worse than it is_, Caroline thought. "What is a three-hour graduation ceremony going to hurt? This is our last chance to spend time together before we all go our separate ways.

That got Elena's attention. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Wake up, Elena! We're not all going to stay in Mystic Falls forever. Bonnie and I are going to college in Richmond next year."

Damon, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up at this, "Wait, what? Barbie vampire and the witch are going to college? Why? Blondie, we're vampires, we don't need to do that stuff."

"But I _want_ to," Caroline replied. "I need to cling to my humanity and the best way to do that is by leaving the Crazy Capitol of the supernatural world. I've just had enough."

It was Damon's turn to look indignant. "Seriously? 'I've had enough,' that's your excuse?"

Elena put a hand on his arm and said, "No, Caroline's right to go." She turned back to Caroline. "You're right, we should go to graduation."

And with that, Caroline feeling utterly and completely contented with herself.

* * *

When Klaus woke up the next morning, he had a searing headache and was feeling like he could throw up his entire insides. He got up and walked tiredly to the kitchen of his New Orleans loft to make himself some coffee. To his surprise, Rebekah was sitting there, waiting for him.

"Hello, Niklaus," she said, absentmindedly flipping through some sort of fashion magazine.

"Bekah, to what do I owe this pleasure." He switched on the coffee machine and grabbed himself some water from the fridge.

A wicked grin appeared on his sister's face. "Oh, I just thought I'd pop 'round. Do some shopping, see the sights, throw a baby shower..."

Klaus clenched his teeth but said nothing. Rebekah kept on checking her phone every three seconds and then texting people so frequently he wanted to throw the infernal device out of the window. Finally he asked, "Who are you texting so much?"

"Matt," she said absentmindedly. "He's studying with Caroline and having a marvellous time apparently." She seemed a little miffed at that but perked up as she heard the jingle that announced a new text. She grinned. "Look at that, it looks as if Caroline's leaving Mystic Falls straight after graduation.

Even Klaus had to admit that that was very interesting news.

**Thank you for reading! Please review to tell me if you like it and what I may or may not be doing wrong. I need a beta if anyone is interested.**

**A few notes:**

**-This is completely canon up to 4x21. If you're reading after 4x22, I'm sorry for any inaccuracies. **

**-This chapter might have seen long and overdrawn but I promise it was just this chapter so I could set up the story.**

**Thanks!**


	2. I'll Be Here

_**Chapter 2**__: __**I'll Be Here**_

**Thanks for clicking! I hope you enjoy! **

**Replies to last week's reviews:**

**Sandiw1875- Thank you for being my first reviewer ever and for the kind words about my story!**

**Hazel21- Thanks!**

**EtherealDemon- Thanks a lot! I have to admit I was really worried about my characters. Sorry for the lack of action, there's a lot more in this one.**

**McKenzieMac- At first I didn't get your review because, living overseas, I'm not an expert on universities in the States. But I looked up to Tulane and I was like 'oh, it's a college in New Orleans, awesome.' So anyway, I'm not 100% sure if she'll be attending Richmond but as for going to New Orleans, well, read on...**

"Today, the class of 2013 are graduating Mystic Falls High in Mystic Falls, Virginia, a small town that most people have never heard of but that's a home to each and every one of us. Most of us have grown up together, those who haven't I'd like to think, as president of the welcoming committee, have been greeted with open arms. We're a family: we've worked together, partied together and totally messed up together. Either way, for good or for bad, we've shaped each other. And personally I'm proud to call each and every one of you classmates and friends. I know it's just high school, that someday will have trouble remembering who dated who and what classes we aced, and that's ok, it's normal. But I have one small tip for all of you: hold on to the human moments. Yes, there are some times when worrying about something like prom when you've got to keep moving, looking at colleges or whatever. But there's nothing more important than to appreciate the things around you and the people who someday won't be. So hold on to who you are and to what you feel. Go out and live your life and when you come back for our high school reunion, you'll have something to say. Congratulations to the class of 2013!"

As Caroline finished her speech, the crowd that had gathered on the Mystic Falls football field shook with applause. She could see her friends smiling at her from the second row and could hear her mother hooting louder than any of the other parents. What, or who, she couldn't see was a man in a perfectly tailored, dimples showing and clapping just loud enough so that she wouldn't look his way. She made her way down the platform steps and to her seat next to Matt. The principal also made a short speech which was greeted by rather half-hearted applause from the audience. She started to make her way through the class in alphabetical order.

"Bonnie Bennett!"

"Matt Donovan!"

"Caroline Forbes!" Smiling brightly, she stepped back onto the platform to receive her diploma. She waved, moved the tassel of her cap and then stepped down. The list went on until finally it was over. In unison, they threw the caps into the air. And just like that, the ceremony was over. Caroline jumped up from her seat to hug Elena and Bonnie, followed by Stefan, Matt, and then half the people she knew from committees and cheerleading.

Observing from a far enough distance away, Klaus gazed at her. She was so comfortable with her humanity that it felt normal to laugh and pose for pictures with humans she probably hardly even knew. Klaus couldn't recall a time when he could have done that without feeling repelled. He knew that logically he should be scornful of her behaviour but her natural grace and ease with these people just made him admire her more.

He could probably have continued watching her for hours but Caroline started to walk across the field and to the parking lot with her mother. He'd been standing underneath the bleachers of the far side of the football field and as Caroline and the sheriff walked by, he recoiled. Still, Caroline somehow registered his presence and sent her mother to her car, saying she'd drive back to the Lockwood House with Matt. As smoothly as possible, he slipped out from underneath the bleachers.

"Caroline," Klaus breathed.

As soon as she saw him, Caroline froze, fear in her eyes. The last time she'd seen Klaus, it had been Silas and that mistake had almost cost her mom her life. In cold, hard voice, she said, "Who are you?"

Klaus was taken aback by the suspicion in her voice. "I'm Niklaus Mikaelson," he answered her question. "I'm Klaus."

Caroline knew she couldn't trust her own eyes so she demanded "Prove it."

He finally understood what was going on, having gone through the same situation himself a few weeks ago. He was somewhat flattered that he was an important enough presence in her life that Silas had impersonated him. He put on his most charming, comforting smile. "That bracelet you're wearing, I gave it to you. Twice, actually. You threw it at me at the ball because you thought I was trying to buy you off. I wasn't. I was trying to apologise for having almost killed you."

Relief crept over Caroline's face. "Oh, I supposed I kind of slipped it on this morning," she said, glancing at the bracelet. "What brings you back to town?"

"You," he said simply, enjoying her smile and the eye roll that went with it.

"You can't just say things like that all the time."

"Why not? It's true. I heard you were leaving town and I was wondering if you were going to take me up on my offer."

All traces of a smile left her face then. Conveniently (for her, _in_conveniently for him), her phone rang right then. "Oh my god, I am running so late. Sorry, I need to go find Matt to get home."

"Let me drive you," he said, pointing towards his car in the parking lot. Caroline hesitated then nodded, walking briskly to the passenger seat. When he had driven them out of the parking lot, he asked, "What are you late for anyway?"

"After party prep," she said, not looking up from her phone. He started taking in the sight of her again. As if she could tell, she told him, "Eyes on the road. You're going the wrong way, anyway. I'm staying on the Lockwood Property, that's where the party is."

He looked slightly hurt but turned the car around and continued driving. They spent the rest of the drive in stone cold silence. When they arrived, Klaus flashed out of the car to open Caroline's door. This was met with a giggle and another eye roll. He followed her up the steps and to the door. As she was unlocking the door, he asked, "May I stay and help?"

"No, you can't. I'm the only vampire who can get in and Tyler..." she trailed off. "But you can come to the party, if you want. It's going to be mostly on the lawn anyway. But you have to behave."

"I'll be there." He grinned, instantly cheered up by Caroline's invitation. He had to remind himself for the seventh time that day that he was supposed to be her 'friend'. He turned around and head back to his house to wait until it was appropriate to call on his sweetheart (he meant _pal_).

"Be there at 8!" she called after him.

* * *

Promptly at 7:58 – if he had to wait one more minute outside the house, he was sure he'd rip somebody's heart out – he rang Caroline's doorbell. She opened the door to find Klaus, smiling and holding a bouquet of pink flowers out to her. "Hi," she said, momentarily flustered. There was a crashing sound behind her as Matt dropped a full ice bucket. "Matt!" Caroline scolded. He profusely apologised. "No, it's fine. Just get a broom or something to clean it up and then get some more ice." Turning back to Klaus, she said, "Could you go around the back and make sure the DJ's set up?"

He nodded but made sure she took the flowers before he went around the house and to the enormous lawn that was the Lockwood's backyard. To the DJ, he called out "Hey! Caroline wants to know if you're set up yet!"

The lanky teenage boy who was obviously part of tonight's entertainment replied that he was almost done, which was met with a glare. Klaus didn't have anything else to do so he sat down on a step and waited. Looking around, he remembered a very different night, homecoming night, specifically. He'd killed his father and lost the loyalty of the only real friend who could ever claim, the Ripper. Still, the moment he pictured then was when he'd first looked at Caroline Forbes, _really _looked. She'd been wearing a red dress and seemed as if she was having fun, socialising with her human friends. "_Your pretty little girlfriend_," he remembered saying to Tyler because she was pretty, scratch that, radiant. She stopped being Tyler's girlfriend and started being Caroline Forbes.

His reverie was interrupted by Caroline, who was walking down the steps he was sitting on. With her was a short, mousy-haired girl who was obviously not a senior. She was reading through some sort of to-do list, all of which Caroline answered with a 'done'. They finished the list just as she came up to him. Caroline's assistant went to check on the food tables as Caroline asked, "So, how do I look?"

Caroline had changed into a flower-print summer dress and bright wedges. Her hair was loose and her makeup natural. Klaus said she looked beautiful and that the party looked amazing. At this point, dozens of the newly-graduated seniors started to pour into the backyard as the band started to play. Klaus disappeared into the crowd as Caroline looked around for her friends. She practically died of fright when Elena jumped up on her from behind. "Oh my God, Elena! You practically gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry!' she replied, all smiles. It was good to have the old Elena back. "The party looks great, Caroline, as always."

"Thanks! And where are the Salvatores this evening?" she said, with mock elegance.

Elena bit her lip apologetically. "Stefan said he was really sorry but he probably wasn't going to make it. And Damon, um, we got into a fight about the cure and the sire bond and we haven't talked since." Caroline nodded. While her transition into a vampire had been no easy feat, it was a trip to Hawaii compared to Elena's. Elena continued, "Why is Klaus here anyway?" She nodded to his form next to the drinks cooler.

"Oh, I invited him," Caroline replied, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal at all. Elena's eyes widened in shock. "Look, it's not like he's going to stick around for long. He's supposed to be in New Orleans anyway. And I'm sure he'll behave."

"Caroline, why?"

"I guess it's because he drove me home, and because he gave me a dress for prom, and he's been so nice lately..."

"He's a bad guy, Care. He killed Jenna _and _Carol Lockwood, and he's almost killed _you_, like, three times," Elena reminded her.

Caroline already knew all that but it probably did her good to hear it from her best friend. Still, she was kind of irritated by the hypocrisy of it all. After all, Elena was in a relationship with the man who more or less raped her. "What do you expect me to about it?" she snapped.

Elena mumbled something about asking him to go away but Caroline was already busy flouncing away. She found Bonnie who handed her her first beer of the many she would have this evening. She had a great time drinking and dancing like there was no tomorrow, not even considering that she would have a giant hangover the next morning. She kept thinking about night clubs and in her drunken state, she kept imaging that she was in a lovely foreign one, maybe in Berlin or London, places she longed to go but was too full of life to go by herself and too stubborn to accept the only invitation she'd ever gotten.

From across the lawn, Klaus was watching her. He saw as she slowly got drunk and as she started dancing with more partners than she probably would even remember. It was like she was tempting him, leering at him, but she never once glanced his way. _Don't be such a narcissist,_ he told himself, _her life doesn't revolve around you_. Eventually, he couldn't stand it anymore. He picked himself up and went up to the DJ to request –not compel, mind you – a slow song. As Adele started to play, he gently pulled Caroline away from her former partner. She glared at him but begrudgingly put her arms around his neck as he put his around her waist and they started to sway.

After a few seconds, Caroline said, "I keep thinking that any minute, Mayor Lockwood will storm out of the house to yell at us about underage drinking." She didn't hide the fact that she said those words specifically to hurt him and she succeeded.

"Why are you always angry at me when we dance?" he said into her ear, pretending that her words didn't mean anything to her.

"You don't exactly make it hard," she snapped.

He nodded slowly. She was right after all. "And yet you stick around me. Why?"

She shook her head, frustrated by the question that had gone around in her head for the past few months, never being able to find an answer. "I don't know," she said honestly. "You send a lot of mixed signals, you know."

"Oh?"

"Yeah! Like, you're so sweet to me one minute but then the next you're threatening the life of somebody I care about, sometimes even me."

His face suddenly became very serious and he dropped his hands from her waist. "Caroline, you have to know that I would never hurt you on purpose. I am not physically capable of it."

They had stopped dancing and Caroline moved him out of the way of the other dancers. She was searching his face for any sign of genuine emotion but found none. "Why can't you?" she insisted.

"I have no bloody idea!" he cried, making sure to keep his voice down. He'd been so sure of himself a few months ago, when he'd told her he 'fancied' her. Now, it was more than that. How could he express what he felt for her now when there was a one in a thousand chance she felt the same. "But I want to know, that I'm certain of."

Caroline frowned again, exasperated at his lack of clarity, especially since she couldn't be specific about her feelings either. "What on earth does that mean?"

Klaus looked straight into her eyes. "That means I want you to come to New Orleans with me."

She turned away from him for a moment, flashing back to the same conversation she'd had with Silas. Silas, who could tell what she was thinking and feeling at every moment. Turning around to look at him she said, "I can't, Klaus. I'm going to college in Richmond next year and that's that."

Klaus grinned wickedly at her. "There are two months before school begins, Caroline."

She almost smiled but managed to murmur, "That doesn't make a difference." Her tone turned sad. "It just can't happen, Klaus."

Angrily, he shot back, "It can't happen or you won't let it happen?" He stalked away before she could answer.

* * *

Around one in the morning, the last member of the senior class of Mystic Falls High left the Lockwood Mansion and Caroline stumbled up the stairs and, out of habit, crashed onto the bed in Tyler's old room. She would have passed out immediately had it not been for the smell that hit her at that moment. It smelled of sweat and deodorant and so, so much of Tyler, which was really depressing. Somehow, just smelling her ex-boyfriend made her want to curl up in a ball and cry. It wasn't so much the fact that they weren't together anymore that made her sad, but that she'd been left behind. He'd left because of Klaus' need for revenge, yes, but he'd gone to find a brighter future elsewhere. She was stuck here, waiting for a boyfriend that would never come back in a house that would never truly be home.

She would never know whether the decision was truly hers or whether the alcohol had made the decision for her. All she knew was that a 1:32 a.m., she sent a text message to Klaus Mikaelson:

_If your offer still stands, i'll meet u 8 my mom's_

_Caroline_

**Thank you for reading! I'm sorry if I got anything wrong! Please review to tell me what you thought or just any kind of Vampire Diaries emotion you're having right now. Oh and I'm**_ really _**sorry about the graduation speech. It sucks but I wanted it to be something Caroline would say. **

**I'm going to try to publish at least once a week but I'm particularly busy this week so bare with me!**


	3. Dead End Street?

_**Chapter 3: Dead End Street?**_

**Thanks for clicking! I'd like to thank last week's reviewers: missgwen33, EtherealDemon, suzypyong, sandiw1875, and Guest. Enjoy!**

When Klaus stopped feeling angry at Caroline's damn stubbornness, the first thing that popped into his head was how well Caroline could hold her alcohol. With the amount she'd been drinking, he'd half expected her to either pass out in his arms, in which case he could nobly bring her home, or give in to the obvious sexual tension in between them. But she'd been able to stand her ground. He chuckled as he turned his car into the driveway of the Mikaelson Manor and was still smiling he walked through the door and went to bed.

At around 1:30 in the morning, he was woken up by the absurdly loud vibrations of his cell phone. He swore quite loudly at it and considered banging the infernal device on the table to get it to shut up. As the vibrating got louder, he gave in and checked his messages. He had a message from Caroline:

_If your offer still stands, i'll meet u 8 my mom's_

He could have whooped for joy at that moment. What on earth had changed Caroline's mind? Maybe she'd been too drunk at the party to realise what she was saying or maybe she had thought over his offer carefully. In any case, he was bringing her to New Orleans, his favourite city in the world, and she was finally going to give him a chance. He smiled as his eyes closed and he went back to sleep.

* * *

On the other side of town, Caroline was restless. Just to think was to think about Klaus and New Orleans. Eventually, she decided to get up and pack for her trip. It was around two in the morning when she locked the front door of the Lockwood's and drove to her mother's house. She crept into her room, being careful not to wake mother. She began to pack. Clothes, jewellery, pictures, her whole life went into that bright blue duffel bag. When she was done, she crashed on the couch downstairs. She didn't think she could bear to stay in her room, surrounded by the relics of her childhood.

Punctually at 8:00, the doorbell woke her. Glancing at the clock, Caroline muttered a "Crap!" and rushed to the bathroom to sort out her bed hair. Three minutes later, she strutted out of the door and walked to the passenger door without even looking at Klaus. She didn't think she could stand the shame of having given into him. Klaus smirked and drove out of Mystic Falls.

Three hours later, Klaus was staring at Caroline dozing in the car. It was cute how she had her mouth open like that. Finally, Caroline jerked awake and looked alarmed at his eyes on her instead of on the road. Still smiling, he turned back to highway. She took out her phone and started scrolling through her messages. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that the only texts she had were from her classmates telling her what a great party it'd been. "Nobody knows yet," she explained.

He nodded and carried on driving. Caroline fished her iPod from her handbag and plugged it into the dock. Occasionally she'd start singing but it was never a song he knew. As a one thousand year old vampire, he'd abandoned listening to popular music in Mozart's day. Suddenly her phone rang and Caroline quickly picked up. "Hi, Tyler!"

Klaus almost groaned. Every single time he seemed to be making any progress with Caroline, Tyler always butted in. He still listened in though, even though he knew it was wrong and it would just hurt.

"How are you?" she was saying.

"_I'm great. How are you, Care?" _Tyler replied.

"Why are you just calling me out of the blue like that? You haven't called me in months."

"_I just heard Klaus left Mystic Falls and I wanted to hear your voice without the threat of that ass threatening anyone._ "

Caroline glanced at Klaus quickly, her forehead creasing with worry. Unfortunately for Tyler, that 'ass' was sitting right next to her. She knew that if Tyler said anything about his whereabouts, phone number, or any other piece of useful information Klaus could decode, his life could end within the week. She spoke very quietly into the phone. "Tyler it's really not the best time to call right now. Just be careful and don't do anything stupid."

"'Course not. But Care-"

"I love you," she breathed before hanging up the phone.

* * *

In a bed & breakfast in a small town near Mystic Falls, Tyler slammed down his phone onto the bed. What was wrong with Caroline? She would never hang up on him like that unless something was up. Then again, something was always up with Caroline, whether it was a committee or helping her friends get out of some vampire situation.

But she'd been calling him for weeks now. He hadn't seen her since prom. Maybe something had changed. Tyler's initial instinct that he should return home the instant Klaus left was heightened a thousand fold. Mystic Falls, here he comes! He jumped into his (stolen) car and drove down the highway.

He drove up in front of the Lockwood House. Only to find that neither Caroline nor Matt were anywhere nearby. After trying Matt's phone three times, Tyler decided to check Caroline's house. He knocked on the door loudly, startling Liz, who was reading something attentively. She pushed the letter under a magazine before going to open up the door.

"Caroline's not here," she said to Tyler.

Tyler's face visibly fell. "Do you know where she is?" he asked urgently. The Sheriff could tell he was worried about Caroline and her face softened.

"She's gone. She left this morning to go and stay with some family down south."

He was still in earnest. "Do you have an address or a phone number?"

"I'm sorry, Tyler but I don't think she would want you to risk attention from Klaus and you won't be helping her by joining her. She'll be fine. You need to focus on taking care of yourself," Liz said. She gently shut the door in his face. She winced as she heard him punch a tree and then went back to reading the two letters Caroline had left for her that morning.

**Letter 1**

_Dear Mom,_

_ I'm sorry that I left without telling you or without saying goodbye. I need you to know that I'm going to Georgia and staying with Steven (dad's BF) and his daughter for the summer. I promise I'll come back before I start the semester at Richmond. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Take care of yourself._

_I love you, _

_Caroline_

**Letter 2**

_Dear Mom,_

_ I'm not going to Georgia to stay with Steven and Lucy. That letter is for prying eyes while this one is for yours alone. I'm going to New Orleans with Klaus. I know you can't fathom why but I just have to get out of here and he's my ticket out. _

_You mustn't tell ANYONE, even Elena and Bonnie. Tell them that I had to get out of town but under no circumstances must you tell them where I'm going unless your life is in danger. If Tyler comes back, tell him to not come after me and that he'll put both of us in danger. Take care of yourself, Mom. I promise I'll call you every day._

_Please forgive me,_

_Caroline, xoxo_

* * *

It was 3:00 PM and Caroline was dreadfully bored. After she'd hung up on Tyler, she'd tried going back to sleep until noon, when they'd stopped in some town to eat. They'd talked a bit about his art and her exes (mostly Matt because Tyler was taboo and he didn't know about Damon). As they stepped back into the car, they'd almost instantly stopped talking, which led to two hours stuck in a car with nothing happening.

As Caroline reached to change the song on her iPod, as was her habit every five minutes or so, Klaus beat her to it and started scrolling through her songs. "How is it that music has been around for thousands of years and yet the oldest music you have is the 1950s?"

Caroline shrugged. "Maybe music only started getting interesting 50 years ago."

"I don't recognise any of this," he exclaimed. Suddenly he paused. "I know this one." He sounded surprised but not at all displeased. "Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran, it was the song we danced to at Mother's ball."

Caroline looked away, blushing. Then she grinned, saying, "You know Ed Sheeran isn't bad looking. He's actually kinda cute in that rugged, British way."

Klaus smiled back, the irony not lost on him. They didn't speak until Ed Sheeran had finished but it wasn't an awkward silence, like it had been earlier. It was peaceful, in a way. "So what's so special about New Orleans anyway?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"It's like nowhere on earth," Klaus said vaguely, searching for the right words to explain. "It's such a huge mix of cultures and there's music in every bar, all of whom serve the best liquor in the world, and so vibrant and full of life. You'll like it, I promise."

"I'm sure I will," she murmured distractedly, she was busy looking at the light that sparkled in Klaus' eye. "What do you do there, anyway? I mean, you don't exactly have the Mystic Falls gang to chase anymore."

He frowned slightly. "It's very complicated actually. You see, I'm not the top dog in New Orleans like I am in Mystic Falls. There's this vampire, Marcel, who I turned awhile back. He was my beta until Rebekah and I had to run from Mikael again. Now he's ruling New Orleans. But I'm working with the witches to put a stop to it."

Caroline laughed out loud. His serious face mixed with the speech about the new "king of New Orleans" seemed ridiculous to her. He glared at her. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "It's just funny that the moment you leave Mystic Falls you pick a fight with someone else." Her face turned serious. "Don't you think you'd be happier if you avoided conflicts like this?"

"Maybe." He was pensive for a few moments. "Sometimes, it's just unavoidable, sweetheart."

"Oh? So you're saying you wouldn't be able to live with someone other than you being the alpha male?" she persisted.

"I'm saying there would be repercussions!" he barked. He knew he was moving dangerously close to the Hayley territory and it was definitely rubbing him the wrong way.

She stared at him expectantly. Caroline wasn't somebody who respected people with secrets, which had made it even harder for her to keep her own vampire secret quiet from the people who loved her. And Klaus' secrets were probably so much worse than hers. She wasn't going to stop digging until she got an answer from him.

Klaus pulled over on the side of the road. "A couple a months ago, I got drunk and I had...relations with a woman." Caroline had a shocked look on her face. She didn't seem mad or amused, just very surprised. He continued, "Then when I got to New Orleans, I found out that she was pregnant."

"Wait, what?!"Caroline gasped. "How the hell is that possible?"

"I'm a werewolf now. Apparently, when I became a hybrid, I became capable of procreating," he explained. "In any case, I have to kill Marcel or the witches will kill the mother and the child."

Caroline's face softened at the rare glimpse of Klaus' humanity. "I'm glad you're trying to protect your family. I'm happy for you!" Softly, she kissed him on the cheek.

Klaus thought that had gone rather well. He'd opened up to her and she'd responded with a kiss on the cheek, which seemed to be progress in his book. On the other hand, he was slightly disappointed that she hadn't been angrier at him, as if she cared for him as more than a friend. Of course, he hadn't yet told her that the woman carrying his child was Hayley.

Caroline wore her heart on her sleeve as a general rule. But after Klaus' confession, she started feeling sad in a way. She kept the subject light for the rest of the trip, trying to stay away from any personal topics. He told her more about New Orleans, particularly the French Quarter, which was apparently a kind of hub for the supernatural. It got so familiar that she'd expected to feel like driving into a place from her dreams. When they finally pulled up, she realised that she could never have imagined such a place. There were five times the amount of people she'd imagined and there were street musicians on every corner. It was the home of the undead and yet she'd never been to a more alive place in her life.

She started to get out but Klaus shut her door before she could. "Listen to me very closely," he said lowly. "The door to my building is the green one on the left. I want you to flash in there before anyone has a chance to see."

Curious as she was to find out the reason for his secretiveness, she followed his instructions. In the building, he acted as if nothing had happened and simply climbed the stairs to the loft, Caroline at his heel. As they got closer to the apartment, they heard voices, one male and two female. Klaus opened the door to see Rebekah, Elijah and Hayley standing around and arguing.

"Oh, good, you're back!" said Rebekah. Her face turned sour when she saw Caroline behind him. "And you brought Mystic Falls Barbie with you."

In general, Caroline would have responded with a quick retort but she was busy staring at Hayley. She could hear a thumping noise coming from her stomach.

"Klaus," she said slowly, "What is Hayley doing here?"

"Hayley is the mother of my unborn child."

**CLIFFHANGER! How will Caroline feel? What will Klaus do? Find out next week! **

**Please review and tell me what you think! If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.**

**-Brianne**


	4. Bourbon Street

_**Chapter 4: Bourbon Street**_

**Thank you to all my reviewers: astrita15, EtherealDemon, Booklover9477, suzypyong, ladysingthebluessowell, and Guest! Enjoy!**

**EtherealDemon: As much as I get why Caroline would want to "freak out in private" and spare herself some mean comments, I think she's brave enough to be able to take it. Like I said last chapter, she wears her heart on her sleeve and most of the time she'll say exactly what's on her mind. She wouldn't just keep it in. While she's private about her feelings about Klaus, she isn't admitting she has any by being upset. I hope you're ok with the way I did it! **

"_Hayley is the mother of my unborn child."_

Before Klaus even had a chance to explain, Caroline flashed out of the room, down the stairs and into the street. Klaus was right behind her. She ran for two whole blocks before he caught up and grabbed her arm roughly.

"Let me go!" she yelled, pulling at his arm and scratching at his hand.

He didn't let go. "Caroline, stop! Let me explain."

She glared at him, her face red and her eyes tearing up. "What is there to explain? You lied to me!"

Caroline looked so betrayed. It tore at his heart but he found that he couldn't just let her turn away from him forever. "Strictly speaking, love, I didn't lie."

"You might as well have! How could you not tell me that Hayley was the slut you had a one-night-stand with?"

"I don't see what you're making such a fuss about!" He grabbed her shoulders so that she was looking straight into his eyes. "She means _nothing!"_

"She means _everything_!" Caroline shouted back. "She's carrying your child!" Klaus was starting to get worried about people in the street, specifically Marcel's spies. He grabbed her torso and flashed back into his building so that they were standing in the entryway. Sure, it was very likely that Elijah, Rebekah and Hayley could hear them but at least they (_she_) would be safe.

"Caroline, I don't care about her," he hissed. "She's a surrogate, nothing more. If you really feel that way then I can get rid of her and the bab-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, she smacked him hard across the face. "You think it would be _better_ if you murdered an innocent child?! Are you crazy?"

He glared down at her. It was one of the few times she had actually felt scared in front of him. "Then what the hell are you so upset about?"

"How could you just forgive her- just sleep with her- like that when you're pursuing Tyler to the ends of the earth? You've caused him so much pain! You murdered his mother, for God's sake! And you get _her _pregnant?" She was weeping now, holding her stomach as if someone had knocked the air out of her.

"In all fairness, Caroline, I don't think it's exactly been a joyride for her sweetheart."

She looked at him in sheer disbelief. "Do you know what I would do just to feel the joy that she will, seeing her child come into the world?"

Then Klaus understood. She was jealous, though not necessarily of Hayley having _his_ child but having a baby at all. The girl who had more or less destroyed her relationship with her boyfriend was getting something she knew she could never have: motherhood. He let her go as she broke down in front of him.

Suddenly she stopped. "I'm sorry, Klaus. This just isn't going to work out. I came here to escape Mystic Falls but I just can't do that around all of this drama. I have to go."

Before she could walk out, Klaus blocked the exit. "No, you don't have to. Nothing has changed since we drove here. If Hayley's the problem, then I promise you will never have to so much as look at her. You came here for a new life and, love, this is the best place for a vampire in your situation to be."

Caroline looked at him hesitantly. She nodded. "Alright, I'll just go and check into a hotel or something."

He was about to protest but he realised that this was as much progress as he was going to make in one day. He stepped aside reluctantly and watched her as she stepped out of the building and into the street, grabbing her bag as she went. Klaus sighed and dragged himself up the stairs. Hayley, Rebekah, and Elijah were still there.

"Will you just please leave me alone?" he barked to all of them.

"No!" said Rebekah, ever the annoying little sister. "Where the hell have you been for the past three days?"

Klaus grabbed a bottle of whisky from the cabinet. He took a swig before answering, "I think that's perfectly obvious. I've been at your high school graduation."

"We know that, brother, seeing as you brought your blond friend, Caroline" said Elijah diplomatically. "The point is why did you disappear like that? The witches didn't like that at all."

"To hell with them!"

Hayley walked out, seeing that her presence was neither needed nor appreciated.

"Klaus, you know that if you don't comply with them, Hayley will die."

Klaus rubbed his hand on his temple. "We don't have to talk about this now, Elijah. I've had a long day."

Elijah nodded. Both of them had clearly overheard his argument with Caroline. They watched him go down the hall and turn into his art studio. He took out a new canvas and started to paint Caroline's blond curls. He'd meant to create a dark piece, a painted version of his own feelings. Instead he recreated Caroline's beautiful face looking lovingly down at a child in her arms.

* * *

On Dauphine Street, Caroline found a bar that seemed clean and had a decent amount of good liquor on the shelf. A jazz musician was singing on a small stage. She sat down on one of the stools at the bar. "Could I please get some, um, wine, I guess?"

"Sure." The bartender had a nice smile and pretty face. As she poured her a glass of burgundy, she asked, "Are you new around here?"

"Oh yeah," Caroline replied. "I'm from a small town in Virginia."

That seemed to catch the girl's attention. "Wow, a small-town girl in New Orleans? Are running home yet?"

"No," said Caroline, thoughtfully. "I think I'm gonna stick around for a bit. I'm Caroline."

"Cami," the girl replied. "So, Caroline, you wouldn't happen to know a guy named Klaus, would you?"

Caroline raised her eyebrows. She was fairly certain that in a city as big as New Orleans, news didn't travel as fast as it did in Mystic Falls. "Yeah, I do actually. How'd you know?"

"He was drunk off his ass the other day and I almost called you to take him home until he told me you lived in Virginia."

Caroline nodded, even though she couldn't really picture a drunken Klaus. She'd seen him drink a lot but he never seemed to lose his annoyingly composed shell. In a way, it felt kind of nice to come into a new city and already sort of know someone friendly. "So what's your story?" she asked Cami.

"I'm just working as a bartender to pay the bills, you know. I'm a psych major at Tulane," she explained.

"You're studying psychology? That's pretty neat. I'm starting at the University of Richmond next fall but I have no clue what I want to major in," said Caroline. "Hey, would you by any chance know, like, a cheap hotel around here? I'm kind of homeless at the moment." She pointed at the suitcase at her feet.

"I don't think so, sorry! I'll ask Sophie, though. She's the chef." She went to get a cute brunette and then went back to bussing tables. A few seconds later, she saw that Sophie was glaring at her. She could just tell that she knew she was a vampire. Trying to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary, she asked, "Do you know any cheap hotels in the Quarter?"

"I know what you are!" she hissed.

Caroline half-smiled at her. "Despite that, I need a place to stay."

"You expect me to help you when I know you'll burn the minute the sun comes up?" She was still glaring at her fiercely.

Caroline absentmindedly showed off her daylight ring. "I'm going to guess you're a witch, am I right?" Sophie nodded proudly. "And with that attitude, you've got to be in on the whole killing-Marcel plot, meaning you're allied with my friend Klaus?" Again, Sophie nodded. Caroline showed off her 1000-kilowatt smile. "In that case, I see no reason why we can't be the best of friends!"

Sophie didn't exactly smile back but she stopped glaring at her and said, "There's a pretty nice boarding house around the corner on Conti."

"Thank you!" she sighed, paying for the wine and the flouncing at of the bar. Maybe the Big Easy wouldn't be so bad after all...

* * *

"Remind me again why we have to have a meeting with Marcel of all people?" asked Klaus grumpily as he poured himself some coffee the next morning.

"He wants to negotiate the terms of your stay in his city," Elijah explained. "It will be good for us to be able to discuss more freedom in New Orleans. If you are sure you mean to cooperate with the witches and take Marcel down then I suggest trying to do it without ten of his minions breathing down your back."

Klaus said, "Do you think they know about Caroline yet?" He tried to sound casual even though ever since they'd driven into New Orleans, he's been concerned for her safety. Having a one-year-old vampire running around who could so easily be traced back to him definitely had its risks. If Marcel were to find out, he didn't know how he would react.

"I don't know, brother," Elijah said. "I'd be very surprised if Marcel had missed a new vampire coming into town, but he might not know about her association with us." He was deeply interested in this blond baby vampire his brother seemed to have taken an interest in. He would do his utmost to try to protect her because the closer she was, the more human Klaus became.

"We'll have to keep it that way. Is Rebekah coming?" he asked.

Elijah shook his head. "I expect not, seeing as she left this morning. Apparently, her friend from Mystic Falls agreed to spend summer break in her company."

Klaus smirked. "Ah, the quarterback has finally given in. Shall we go?" he said brightly.

The two set off down Bourbon Street and through the streets of the French Quarter until they reached Jackson Square, which seemed to be some kind of neutral territory. Marcel was waiting for them with several members of his inner circle, including the one Klaus had bitten last week. Elijah politely shook hands with Marcel. Klaus made no such gesture.

"I see you've returned to New Orleans. After not having seen you for the past four days, I'd started to worry that you'd left my city," Marcel said, irony etching his every syllable.

"I see your spies are getting rusty, old friend," said Klaus, "which brings me to these terms we're meant to discuss." His face hardened. "Let's get this straight: I do what I want when I want and where I want. If you try and stop me, someone dies."

"Klaus," Elijah said levelly, "I'm sure we can negotiate."

One of the younger members of Marcel's entourage spoke up, "Marcel has already drawn up a contract for you to sign." He passed Klaus a list carefully written in Marcel's handwriting, which seemed not to have changed in the past hundred years. He read over the list, scoffing at almost every single point.

"Even if I signed this 'contract', what on earth makes you think I would live by it?" asked Klaus.

Marcel smirked, having already thought of this. "I would have a witch bind it so that if someone broke a rule, we would be notified."

"Marcel, do you remember the Treaty of Versailles?" Marcel slowly nodded. For the sake of the younger vampires present, Klaus explained, "After the First Wold War, the victors created the Treaty without Germany's input and forced her to sign it. She had lost after all."

"What's your point?" Marcel asked testily.

Klaus smiled. "My point, Marcel, is that you've lost." He tore the contract to pieces and started to walk away.

"I hear you have a new friend in town," Marcel called after him. Klaus stopped short. He couldn't possible mean... "Caroline, I believe her name is. One year old and she's already in with the Original family. I can't say I'm not impressed."

In two seconds flat, Klaus had Marcel pinned against the wall. "If you do anything to hurt her, to hurt _anyone_ who's with me, I swear to burn down the entire quarter with you in it."

"Now, now, no need to be dramatic," said Marcel, struggling to breathe. "Just sign the contract."

"I'll get back to you," he said, disappearing with Elijah through the streets of the Vieux Carré.

**As always, please follow, favourite and review. I'd love to know if anybody has suggestions or ideas. Thanks!**

**-Brianne**


	5. Ready or Not

_**Chapter 5: Ready or Not**_

**Thanks again to my reviewers: EtherealDemon, Booklover9477, sandiw1875, KlarolineKisses, hopeless637 and suzypyong!**

**Sandiw1875- You asked how Marcel knew about Caroline. I think Marcel has vampire loyal to him on every street corner so if a new vampire crossed Klaus' threshold, he'd know about it. Also, Caroline was shouting at him on the street.**

**Also, congratulations to Candice Accola, who just got engaged! Enjoy! **

Caroline woke up bright and early the next morning. She showered, brushed her hair and dressed in a cute skirt and top. If she was going to spend the summer in a beautiful city like New Orleans, she was going to enjoy herself. She wasn't up to doing anything complicated on her first day, so she grabbed her purse and handbag. Just as she was about to go shopping, she heard her phone ring. "Hey, Matt!" she answered, happy to finally hear from one of the Mystic Falls gang.

Matt sounded as if he was in a car somewhere. "Hi, Care," he answered. "I heard you left town. How'd that happen?"

She started to reply with the story she'd made up for herself on the way to New Orleans. "Well, Steven called me and asked-"

"Care, I know about you leaving with Klaus," he interrupted.

At first, Caroline was relieved not to have to lie to her friend but then she started to freak out about if all her friends knew about the circumstances of her departure. "How did you know?"

"I told him," said a voice from the other end. It was a British, female voice. Rebekah's voice.

"You're with Rebekah?!" she cried into the phone. Why on earth would Matt be in a car with Rebekah?!

"Yeah, um, we're kind of seeing the world together," he said, obviously slightly embarrassed. Caroline heard him cover the phone and tell Rebekah to stop eavesdropping on his conversation. "Are you ok over there?"

She smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see her through the phone. "I'm ok. I was actually just about to go shopping, and then maybe see the city a bit. It's beautiful down here, Matt. I hope you see it someday."

"Well, have fun," he told her. "And you have to promise to call me if anything happens, ok?"

"OK, Matt. Bye!" She hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and headed to her entrance. An unwelcome face met her at the door.

"Good morning, sweetheart," said Klaus with an annoying grin.

She pushed passed him and started walking briskly down the street. He effortlessly kept up with her. Growing frustrated, she snapped, "Go away, Klaus!"

"I can't, Caroline," he said in a soft and gentle voice that seemed so sincere that Caroline had to turn around. "I wasn't able to sleep last night knowing that you were upset. I want to explain." Caroline shook her head and started to turn around but Klaus tenderly took her hand. "You're here now. Please let me show you the Quarter, at least."

"No," she replied, shaking her head. He looked disappointed. It melted away her icy facade. "You could come with me to go shopping, though," she finally offered.

He grinned and, not letting go of her hand, he led her out of the historic part of the city and towards the nearest mall. When they got there, he gazed around in wonder. Out of all the places he'd been in the past couple of decades, he'd never been to a shopping mall. Even when he'd gone shopping with Rebekah, she'd taken him to places like Rodeo Drive, 5th Avenue and the Champs Elysées. He'd never expected a mall to be like this. Somehow, the shops were away from the streets and yet the crowd was much louder than any crowds could be. Gazing out of every store, were vast amounts of very diverse clothing. How bizarre!

He was sparked out of his reverie by Caroline's bubbling laugh. She smiled from ear to ear at being able to show him something. For all his Parises and Romes, a mall was a completely new experience. She wondered if that was how he'd felt when he'd driven her into New Orleans. If it was, she couldn't blame him for wanting to show her around the world. What was she thinking? She didn't look at him that way; she couldn't afford to. Her face fell slightly and impatiently, she pulled him into a store where she started looking at a rack of skirts.

Klaus enjoyed browsing the aisles of clothing more than he thought he would. At least, he liked seeing Caroline try on vast amounts of clothing. He liked being able to comment on her beauty every five minutes. He liked that she liked to try on tops that were much too low and shorts that were much too short, even though she wasn't used to wearing them in day to day life. _Girls were reckless and sexy_, he'd told her once about the 1920s. Had he mentioned that in the French Quarter of New Orleans they'd always been?

Then again, he'd known for a while that Caroline wasn't afraid of showing a little skin, particularly when trying to distract lethal hybrids from plots that her friends concocted. He liked that Caroline was brave in that way.

Finally, Caroline had picked a dress, a skirt, some jeans and a couple of tank tops and went to the cash register. Before she had a chance to fish some cash out of her wallet, Klaus handed his credit card over to the cashier.

"You don't have to do that, Klaus," she said, looking at him disapprovingly. "I told you, you can't buy me."

"I'm not trying to." He continued to enter his PIN code into the machine. Begrudgingly, Caroline took her clothes and marched out of the store. By this time, it was well past noon and she decided that they should go to the food court to at least get a bite of some human food. This idea was not exactly thrilling to Klaus but he went along with it. She got a soda and some fries for them to split. He didn't touch them. She smiled as she put a French fry in her mouth. It was almost sexy.

He spoke up, "I wish you'd move in to the loft." The way he said it made it sound like an order, which didn't sit well with Caroline at all.

She scowled. "Why? I'm fine at the B&B on Conti and, besides, I don't get along with your roommates at all."

Klaus replied casually, "Hayley doesn't live there, you know." He could practically feel her relax just slightly. "The only other person there is Elijah and you barely know him."

"He's with Katherine," she bit back.

"He isn't." He could tell that she was avoiding the main reason why she was reluctant to move into his Bourbon Street apartment: _him_. Caroline, so stuck within human conventions as she was, thought moving in with somebody, even if his way-too-formal big brother was also going to be present, was a big step in a relationship. She wasn't even sure if you could say they were _in_ a relationship.

"Why is it so important to you?" she asked. She hoped he wouldn't say something to sweet and cheesy like '_I need to be close to you'_.

He shook his head and for a second she wasn't sure if he wouldn't just avoid the question. But he replied, "Marcel knows about you." His eyes turned dark and his forehead creased. "He knows you're important to me. He wants me to sign a pact and he won't hesitate to use you against me."

Caroline had enough common sense to look slightly frightened at the thought of being used against Klaus in this war that was going on between him and Marcel. Finally, she calmed down. She couldn't let Klaus think that she needed to be protected by him, that she was defenceless. "I'll take my chances."

"Are you that appalled by living in my home that you would risk your own life?" he said it in a hurt voice. She remembered he used the same tone the night he'd first saved her life. _"Do you really think that low of me?_" he'd said.

"I'm not scared of Marcel!" she spat.

"Well, you should be," he snapped back. "You're not strong, Caroline. You've been a vampire for barely over a year and yet you live in a city crawling with vampires who've been around for centuries without fear. This isn't Mystic Falls, Caroline!"

A few people were staring so Caroline started speaking in a hushed whisper, "I know that, ok! But I'm not involved in this weird war thing you have with Marcel."

"You became involved the minute you stepped into New Orleans with me."

She stood up and turned her back to him as she grabbed her jacket from the chair. Knowing that he could hear her, she murmured, "I regret it a little more every second I'm here."

Caroline turned around and was startled when she saw that he was only an inch away from her. He touched her arm lightly. He was hurt. What was with this guy? He could be so harsh and then he got hurt when she retaliated. "You don't mean that," he said reproachfully.

She knew she'd stepped over the line. "I'm sorry, you're right. I don't regret coming here. Let's just go." She was very careful not to look into his eyes as she walked out of the mall and down the street. She had hoped they'd just go back to an awkward silence but he wouldn't let the matter rest.

Walking briskly right next to her, he continued, "You still haven't given me a clear reason why you won't move in, sweetheart."

"I don't need a reason, Klaus."

"Why?" he insisted.

Caroline stopped walking and turned to look at him. "Just drop it!" she ordered. She was starting to get really pissed off.

"No! Why?"

"Because we're not ready for that!" she exclaimed finally. Strangely enough, she felt a lot better having said it than before when she was avoiding the subject. She started to walk again.

Of course, it was going to take more than that to get Klaus to leave the matter alone. How could he be expected when she'd said something as cryptic as that? He would probably have to spend weeks trying to decode what on earth she meant. Forget Aramaic, Caroline Forbes was a whole different language altogether. He decided to just ask, "Love, what do you mean '_we're not ready_'?"

"You want us to cohabitate, as in live in the same apartment. I'm not ready to live with the most powerful being on the planet, who claims to be my friend and then flirts with me every minute," she explained.

"You said that '_we_' weren't ready," he reminded her. His brows furrowed in understanding. "You don't trust me, love."

"It's not that-" she started.

He cut her off, "No, it's perfectly alright. You have every reason not to. I'll fix that someday, I promise. But you must know that I would never intentionally hurt you."

"_We_ hurt each other, Klaus," she reasoned. "We've hurt each other over and over again. I like you and I wanted to come here partially to be your friend but we just need boundaries for the time being."

Klaus didn't know whether to be hurt or flattered. Now that he knew she considered him a friend, he felt infinitely more hopeful about their relationship. Then again, he'd just been quarantined to the "friend zone" that Americans complained about. He said simply, "I understand."

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Klaus showing Caroline all of his favourite parts of the Quarter, particularly those that held memories for him of the time long ago where he'd worked with his brother to build and strengthen the city. The sun was setting and he'd decided to bring Caroline to one of the best restaurant of the area. That's when they ran into Marcel.

He was just wandering casually down Bourbon St when he saw them across the street. His face broke out into a huge grin and he waved before making a beeline for them. Klaus smiled back, though incredibly sardonically. He felt an urge to wrap his arm around Caroline and pull her closer to him but the logical portion of his brain told this would probably make her more uncomfortable than anything else.

"Hello, there, friend," greeted Marcel with that Southern twang of his. Klaus half-heartedly shook his open hand. "Will you introduce me to this lovely lady?"

Caroline, who didn't really see any point in letting Klaus introduce her, said, "I'm Caroline."

Marcel kissed her hand and looked straight into her eyes before saying simply, "Marcel." He turned back to Klaus. "Have thought anymore about our agreement?"

Klaus didn't flinch. "No, I can't say I have, mate."

Something in Marcel's eyes flickered for a moment. "You have until tomorrow to get back to me." To Caroline, he said, "I hope you enjoy you enjoy your stay in New Orleans, Caroline, _however_ long it lasts." He continued down the street and into a coffee shop.

Klaus pulled Caroline into the restaurant and within seconds, due to Klaus' remarkable number of connections, they were seated. Caroline started the conversation, "Why don't you just rip Marcel's heart out?"

Klaus shrugged. "There are multitudes of reason. I want to win back New Orleans fair and square, love. I don't want to stage a coup and have the city rain with blood."

Caroline scoffed. "It's strange that it's for the thing you want most in the world, New Orleans, that you'll start using diplomacy." Klaus almost pointed that it wasn't the thing he wanted the most in the world. Almost, but not quite.

* * *

After Klaus dropped Caroline off, made sure all the doors were locked and compelled the landlady to phone him if Caroline had a problem, he went home. Elijah was waiting up for him.

"I trust you had a pleasant day with Miss Forbes, brother," he greeted him.

"Quite pleasant." Klaus grabbed the whisky off the shelf and poured each of them a glass. "Elijah, have you looked over the terms of Marcel's little supernatural rulebook yet?" He handed his brother a glass.

Elijah looked surprised. "You tore it up, remember?"

"I'm afraid we might have to cooperate with him just this one time." He patted Elijah on the back. "Don't worry. The witches will soon figure out how to divide the Quarter's loyalties and then Marcel and his precious treaty can rot in hell." He started walking down the hall.

"Don't throw everything away over this girl, Klaus," Elijah called after him.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really liked writing all the interaction between Klaus and Caroline so hopefully it turned out alright. Please follow, favourite.**

**I'd love it if you could tell what you think in a REVIEW. 3 Thanks!**

**-Brianne**


	6. Involved

_**Chapter 6: Involved**_

**Big shout out to last week's reviewers: Booklover9477,PainfullyShy, Vamptragic, hopeless637 and EtherealDemon.**

**hopeless637- You asked me if Elijah doesn't agree with Klaroline. I think that he very much respects Caroline and thinks that Klaus being in love with her is good for him because it taps into his humanity. However, he believes "family above all" and he's seen his family screwed by love one too many times. Seeing as Caroline has given no indication of her romantic feelings (in front of Elijah), he just wants Klaus to be cautious. Also, Klaus is about to be a father; that's kind of a bump in the Klaroline road for him.**

A couple of days passed before Klaus heard from Caroline again. He'd spent the past few days agreeing on a deal with Marcel and then talking himself out of the immense hole he'd dug himself into. The witches of New Orleans were not best pleased that he'd agreed to anything with the man they were plotting to kill. In any case, the most communication that had passed between him and Caroline was the occasional text message.

On Friday, he woke up feeling the huge need to see her that day. He spent the morning resolved to not be desperate but by noon, he had reminded himself that he'd been practically stalking her in Mystic Falls. He'd called her. No answer. Texted. No answer. He called again.

"Just go to her place," Elijah told him, growing impatient. Without a word, Klaus grabbed his jacket and strode out the door, down Bourbon and then up to Conti. The landlady told him she wasn't there. Klaus was frustrated now, maybe even a little nervous. Could she have picked up and left? He shook his head. Caroline wouldn't do that without saying anything. Then there was always the possibility that Marcel had done something.

He would have had a witch track her down if he hadn't been going down Dauphine and seen her through the window of the bar. He strode toward her, glaring. "Where have you been?"

"Working," she said, a smile dancing on the edge of her lips. He noticed for the first time that she was holding a tray and wearing a small black apron. Upon seeing his bewildered expression, she grinned. "I got a job!"

"Why?"

"The normal reasons: college, experience, money-"

He cut her off. "Caroline, that's bullshit. You already got accepted into university and you don't really have to worry about money: you're a vampire."

Her smile didn't fade. "In any case, I have a job now. I couldn't exactly just stick around New Orleans during nothing." She'd given in her application to Sophie Deveraux two days ago. Sophie had just glared but luckily the owner had liked the sound of her and had hired her on the spot. Today was her third day.

Klaus was going to retort but he didn't have the chance as Hayley walked into the bar and up to Klaus. "I told you yesterday that my appointment with the OB/GYN was this morning."

"Sorry, love, I don't think I'll be able to make it." Caroline noted that he barely even glanced at her. Hayley looked P-I-S-S-E-D. If he was any normal person, she would probably have slapped him. She flounced out of the bar.

Klaus turned back to her, all smiles and dimples. Caroline frowned and put on that judgey look she'd mastered freshman year of high school. "You can't just let her get the first glimpse of your baby without," she protested.

"I'd much rather spend the day with you," he said. He was intent on making Caroline feel safe in the knowledge that Hayley wasn't a threat to her and wouldn't ever be. His motives were good but unfortunately his strategy was all wrong.

Caroline looked at him seriously, pulling his irises into hers. "Hayley is having your child." He practically rolled his eyes. She spoke softly, "Don't let her make you into the father that Mikael was to you." She could tell from the instant she'd said it that she'd hit a nerve. It was too similar to what she'd said months ago at the Mikaelson Ball. _Your father didn't love you so you assume no one else will._ How right she'd been!

He sighed, finally relenting, and ran after Hayley. Caroline went back to bussing tables. He'd barely left the building when she felt a presence behind her. She turned around to see Marcel. "How did you do that?" he breathed.

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Do what? What did you hear?"

"Nothing!"Marcel threw up both his hands teasingly. "But I did see you convince Klaus to go after that girl in barely thirty seconds flat."

"Oh, that," she said, relieved that she hadn't spilled Hayley and Klaus' secret. She shrugged and concentrated on pouring a drink for another customer.

Marcel didn't walk away like she thought he would. Instead he continued, "You said two words to him and he runs after her like a puppy. I've never seen anyone with as much influence with Klaus as you do. You're like the Klaus Whisperer."

She smiled sarcastically. "I don't know. I don't think anyone can convince Klaus to do something he doesn't want to."

"But _you_ can," he retorted. Caroline continued to working. "You know, Klaus wants what I have. He wants New Orleans." Caroline rolled her eyes. This duel between monarchs was getting ridiculous. Marcel looked surprised by her attitude. "So you don't believe in his cause?" he asked.

"I believe that there is no such thing as a king in the United States. Equality and justice for all and all that jazz." She mimed jazz hands.

"So wouldn't be opposed to convincing him to let my kingdom be?" he asked.

Caroline shook her head. "I couldn't do that."

"You underestimate yourself." As she placed a glass onto a tray, he took her chin and moved her face so that she looked straight into his eyes. His usually jovial face turned serious. "I think that Klaus is madly in love with you and I think he'll do whatever you say when you say it."

Slightly spooked, she replied trying to sound as calm as possible. "It's impossible. Nobody's worth as much as his need for power." Her voice was chilly.

"Help me to dissuade him from this stupid plotting of his."

"Why should I?" she challenged.

Cool as anything, he said. "Clemency. If Klaus does something foolish, I give you my word that there won't be any consequences for you." Caroline tried to push past him but he stopped her, grabbing her arm. "If not, you can bet you'll be caught in the cross-fire." He left the bar.

Caroline felt as if her veins had turned to ice. What the hell had she gotten herself involved in?

She decided this was as good a time as any to take her break. She went into the kitchen to get herself some water. "Hi," she said to Sophie, who was manning the grill.

"Was that Marcel I saw out there?" the witch asked. Caroline nodded. "Be careful."

Caroline rolled her eyes and mumbled a "Yeah, I got it." She turned to walk back into the bar but Sophie caught her hand.

"I mean it, Caroline. Marcel's bad news and we're nowhere near close enough to killing him. The only person who's powerful enough to stand up to him is Klaus. If he was after me, I'd get as close to Klaus as possible."

Caroline crossed her arms and fixed Sophie with an intense stare. "Why do you care anyway?"

Sophie shrugged awkwardly. "I guess it's because Klaus is, like, obsessed with you." Caroline grunted, annoyed at yet another person telling her that Klaus liked her. Sophie softened. "And you're not a bad vampire." It was true. Sophie had been watching Caroline for the past few days and hadn't even seen her tempted by bloodlust. Even better, she was staying out of Klaus' war with Marcel.

The blonde bit her lip guiltily at the other girl's praise. She knew she'd made mistakes and didn't really deserve it. She confessed quickly, "I killed twelve witches a couple of months ago."

Sophie turned back to the grill, where her burgers were charring. "You thought I didn't know? News travels fast among the witch community. Look, if Jane-Anne was about to be murdered by twelve witches, I would have killed them too."

Caroline smiled. This was the first time anybody had been understanding towards her actions during the third massacre of Mystic Falls. She flung her arms around Sophie and hugged her tightly. Then she went back to serving tables.

* * *

Klaus was sitting in the waiting room of the most discreet obgyn in town, bored out of his mind while Hayley, totally unfazed by his attitude, flipped through a magazine. He started fiddling with his watch. Absentmindedly he said, "Do you think I'm a good person?"

Hayley snorted. "No! Are you kidding? You killed 12 hybrids just for breaking out from under your thumb, you sacrificed three women so that you could become a hybrid, you corrupted Mystic Falls' golden boy, you-"

"Ok, that's enough," he cut her off. "My, Tyler did keep you well-informed." There was a hint of condescension in his voice.

"Don't use that tone with me when we both know you're trying to steal Tyler's girlfriend!" she retorted.

"Caroline's not his girlfriend anymore," he growled. A few moments passed before he asked her another question. "Does she like me?"

Hayley thrust her magazine down impatiently. "We're not going to sit here and braid each other's hair and talk about our feelings." She pursed her lips, considering his question. "I think she likes you. I mean, she came all the way here. But she won't do anything about it, you know that. She's way too good for you."

Most people would probably have gotten their throat torn out for that but carrying his child made her annoyingly exempt from that rule. Plus, she was right about everything. He smiled to himself, thinking about how she'd said that Caroline liked him. He didn't need to focus on her not being able to take a chance on him yet. It was inevitable.

"Mikaelson?" a middle-aged doctor called from the door of her office. Hayley got up and went inside, followed quickly by Klaus.

* * *

After her shift had ended, Caroline, still anxious from her encounter with Marcel, went back to the bed and breakfast, packed her stuff, left her rent money with the landlady and went outside, only to see that it had started raining hard onto the roofs of the French Quarter. She made her way down the streets of New Orleans but she got lost at least twice and was startled by having three encounters with feeding vampires, all of whom were older, stronger and more intimidating than she was. Finally she found Klaus' building. She rang the doorbell.

Elijah answered. He was wearing a crisp brown suit with his hair perfectly combed as usual. He seemed a little startled to see her at the door, particularly since she was sopping wet and holding two suitcases. Nevertheless, he greeted her politely, "Hello, Miss Forbes, what can I do for you?"

Caroline smiled awkwardly. "Um, is Klaus here?" she asked.

"No," he said, still eyeing her up and down. "Do you want to come inside to wait? Maybe change?"

"Thanks," she said gratefully. She came in and put the two cases down side by side, opened one and fished out a pretty babydoll dress she'd bought a few days ago. She went off to search for the nearest bathroom. When she came out again, Klaus was sitting on the couch. He looked up as she walked in.

"Hi," she said quietly, looking directly into his eyes. Then she noticed Hayley, who was standing next to the fireplace, hand on her stomach and with an oddly peaceful expression. "How's the baby?"

"Fine," replied Klaus. He passed her the picture of the ultrasound the doctor had given them. All Caroline could do was stare at it. It was so small and perfect. Klaus was asking her, "What brings you here?"

Before such a cosy and familial scene, Caroline felt that she couldn't just ruin it with her problems. She said simply, "Nothing important. Tell me about the check-up."

"No, tell me about how you showed up here with two suitcases." Caroline shook her head, indicating the two other people in the room. "Do you want to talk about it in my studio, sweetheart?" he asked. Caroline followed him into the art studio. It was filled with Klaus' paintings, all of whom were in different styles and probably from different eras. She would have loved to explore the room but Klaus was looking at her expectantly. "What happened?"

"Look, it's really not a big deal," Caroline started, getting a reproachful look from Klaus. "After you left the bar, Marcel approached me. He seemed to think that I could influence you into stopping your crusade against and when I didn't really want to get involved, he threatened me. I guess I just kind of got scared."

Klaus looked really mad but he refrained from taking it out on her. "Does this mean you're accepting my offer to move in?"

"If you're still open to it, yeah I guess."

Klaus was grinning. Without further ado, he went back to the living room, picked up her suitcases and brought them into one of the two guest bedrooms. Caroline waited with Hayley until he came back. When he did, they both sat down on the couch and started discussing the baby. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A girl," he said wistfully. A small smile appeared accompanied with his familiar dimple. "Rebekah will be pleased. She's always said we needed more women in the family."

Caroline grinned back and asked, "Do you know what you'll do when the baby starts to age?"

"I was thinking about trying to contact Esther and seeing if we can get the spell she used to turn us all into vampires, but that would require the doppelganger's blood, which we unfortunately don't have access to. Same goes for turning her into a hybrid."

Hayley, who'd been standing by the fireplace looking jealously at the whisky bottle, spoke up. "You are _not _turning the baby into hybrid," she said fiercely.

Klaus looked annoyed by her intervention. "That's the point, love, I _can't_. No doppelganger, remember?"

That didn't discourage her one bit. "But if you could, you would!"

"Yes, I would," he stated.

Hayley scoffed. "Of course you wouldn't have any problems with turning your own kid into one of your own minions!"

Caroline tried to mediate. "Hayley, if it's between that or the baby dying... a parent shouldn't have to bury their own child," she reasoned.

"How can you defend him after what you saw Tyler go through?"

"It's not the same and you know it and besides it doesn't matter because that's not in the cards right now."

Maybe it was hormones or maybe she didn't like being surrounded by vampire. Either way, Hayley was furious now. "Don't worry, Caroline, he'll be back to caring only about you tomorrow. The only thing he sees in that baby is power," she spat.

"OK, that's it!" Why did everyone try to get to her by talking about Klaus' infatuation? Worst still, why did it work? Frustrated, she stood up, meaning to get some sleep but Klaus gently pulled her back onto the couch.

He said, "You obviously overestimate the power of the child. I saved both of your lives because I wanted the baby and because I couldn't persecute it the way my father did me." He was talking in a low, dangerous voice as if daring anyone in the room to try and use his vulnerability against him.

Throwing her hands up in the air in irritation, Hayley stormed out of the flat.

* * *

Two hours later, Caroline was asleep on the couch. Her head was in a rather comfortable position as it was on Klaus' lap. He didn't mind one bit. Before closing his eyes to seek rest, he whispered to her, "_I love you."_

**Awww... Sorry, I just had to throw that last bit in last minute! So what did you think? Are you excited that Caroline's moved in with the Mikaelson brothers? I almost put in a scene where Klaus startles Caroline in the bathroom, naked. It didn't fit but if you guys are interested, I can throw it in, in another chapter. Also, I need baby girl names (and stories on how the baby would get her name).**

**Next chapter, we'll see Hayley and Caroline become better acquainted and a field trip to Mystic Falls for Klaus and Elijah. **

**Thanks!**

**Brianne**


	7. Watch Your Back

_**Chapter 7: Watch Your Back**_

**Thanks to the reviewers: suzypyong, EtherealDemon, Booklover9477, Vamptragic, and AngelOfMusic44.**

When Klaus woke up the next morning, he realised that Caroline was no longer sleeping next to him on the couch. He started to worry that she'd decided to leave. After last night's drama, he wouldn't blame her.

"'Morning, sleepy-head!" she said from the kitchen as she saw him move. His head whipped around and then broke out into a grin. That is, until he saw Hayley was there as well. He got up and went to get himself an espresso from the coffee maker.

"So I was thinking that since now we know that the baby's a girl, we could start shopping for the nursery," Caroline said to him. He noted that she said 'we', meaning that she was obviously dying to go baby shopping.

Hayley, however, wasn't so thrilled about Caroline's inclusion. "You mean that _we_, the parents, should start shopping for the baby."

Giving Hayley her best queen-bee face, she said, "Seriously? You want to go shopping." She gestured at Hayley's obviously inadequate wardrobe.

Swallowing a gulp of coffee, he said, "Caroline can buy things for our child if she wants to." He suddenly had a burst of inspiration. "In fact, I think that you should both go. It will give you a chance to get to know each other."

Both girls looked at him in shock. Caroline cried out indignantly, "What do you mean _both of us_?"

"Unless you have something better to do, Caroline. I think that as the mother, Hayley has every right to go but you shouldn't if you don't want to," he replied. He knew of course that Caroline was set on this shopping trip and wouldn't give it up for the world. This way, both of them would be kept busy while he...ran an errand. He watched the two girls as they left for the town center.

"What are you up to?" Elijah asked him suspiciously.

"I need to run up to Mystic Falls today, brother."

"And you wanted Miss Forbes out of the ways so that you didn't risk bringing about her return to her home town," his brother guessed. "May I ask what task brings you back to the town you tried so hard to run from?"

"We need to figure out what would happen to the child when it begins to grow old. If we were to decide that it become a vampire, I don't know if it would survive the transition, seeing as it has werewolf blood. I want to contact Esther through the Bennett witch and ask her for help."

Elijah looked surprised by Klaus' decision to seek out their mother but he nodded understandingly. But as Klaus continued to explain his course of action, he realised that whatever help Esther brought to Niklaus would undoubtedly involve the Petrova doppelganger. Though Elena was now undead, Elijah had just recently found out that Katerina had taken the cure and was now a human. He volunteered to accompany Klaus, hoping to be able to protect her.

They drove all day to Mystic Falls and by the time Klaus arrived, it was late. But that didn't stop him from marching right up to Bonnie Bennett's house and rapping smartly on the door. It was opened by a tall, well-built African-American man, presumably her father. "Can I help you?" he said warily.

"I'm looking for Bonnie," he stated.

He closed his eyes briefly, as if in pain, and then said, trying very hard to sound careless, "She's at her mother's, out-of-state." He banged the door roughly in Klaus' face. Klaus turned to look at his brother, who was stone-faced.

"I suppose we'd better vistit the Salvatores, since we're here."

Elijah appeared to be slightly perturbed by his brother's intentions and said, "I'll just go check on the mansion while you make your social call." Klaus gave him a suspicious expression but went ahead to the car. Of course, Elijah had no intention of checking up on the family's Mystic Falls home. He left to go to the only place where Katherine would stay around the town. Elijah jumped down into the tunnels near the Lockwood cellars. Katherine had spent 500 years running from Klaus and she would of course think to stay in the one place he couldn't go. "Katerina?" he called.

"Elijah?" Katherine was surprised to get a visit from her ex-lover, though not entirely displeased. His leaving her had impacted her. She'd spent centuries with her emotions off, pushing all her feelings for Elijah back. But when he'd sought her out for the cure a few months ago, everything, all her memories of being a young human girl in love, came flooding back. But he'd left. And it turned out that had been when she needed him the most.

Then she'd been forced to take the cure by Elena Gilbert,. Not only had all her strength, powers and immortality been taken away, but she didn't have a switch anymore. Now, he'd come back and Katherine didn't know how to feel anymore. "What brings you back to Mystic Falls?" He noticed that she didn't leave the safety of the cave.

"I'm not alone," he explained. "Klaus is back as well and he's looking for a way to turn his child." Katherine stiffened. Being the doppelganger meant she was inevitably involved. She was genuinely scared. "I'll try as hard as I can to cover. My brother isn't aware of your humanity yet and as far as he's concerned, you ran away from this town weeks ago."

Katherine stuck out her chin angrily. "You know how you could protect me: turn me back." She stepped over the invisible line that separated her and Elijah and her eyes focused on the vein on his neck where she could see blood pumping even with her human vision.

"I can't do that. You have an opportunity to live a life the rest of us can only dream of and it would be cruel for me to take that away."

"Then there's no use. If I die now or if I die in thirty years, it won't make a difference either. You might as well end my suffering," she snarled. Suddenly, she grabbed the Swiss army knife that she'd spied in his pocket and slammed it into her neck.

* * *

Hayley and Caroline were on their fourth store and had yet to buy so much as a bassinet. Caroline held up a pretty pair of pink pyjamas and sighed as Hayley shook her head. "C'mon, Hayles, it's cute."

"Don't call me Hayles, ever. We're not looking for cute. My daughter isn't going to be a bimbo from her birth," Hayley argued.

"What are you talking about? My mom dressed me like this when I was a baby." Hayley gave her a look. Frustrated, Caroline asked, "Well, what did you wear growing up?"

Hayley looked away. "I don't know. I spent my early years in a foster home before I got adopted. I never met my parents," she answered softly.

Caroline, just for a moment, appeared to be sympathetic. Quickly, she reminded herself that Tyler running from Klaus was her fault and that she'd slept with Klaus despite the fact that she'd plotted to kill him. "Don't seek sympathy from me."

Hayley put her hand on her hip and stuck her chin out. "What the hell is your problem with me?"

"You're responsible for the death of twelve hybrids and Mrs. Lockwood!" she accused her, shocked that Hayley couldn't figure that out for herself.

"You killed twelve witches," Hayley reminded her instantly. Caroline raised her eyebrows. She hadn't known that Hayley had found out about that. She turned away, abashed but not letting Hayley see it. She stomped her stilettos out of the store and into the food court. Hayley was hot on her trail. "Is it because I slept with Klaus? Is that why you hate me?"

"You snapped my neck. Trust me, you being a slut doesn't bother me nearly as much as you being a backstabber."

"Why are you mad at me? Tyler being safe is because of me!" she cried out.

Caroline turned on her. "So you crushing on my ex is supposed to make it all better?"

Hayley nodded. This was her chance to get what she wanted out of Caroline: Tyler. "Think about it: we're allies, here. I want to protect Tyler just as much as you do. We could talk to Klaus..." she trailed off.

"You mean I could sweet-talk Klaus. No, I am done trying to charm Klaus into doing anything. I left the little blonde distraction back in Mystic Falls. Besides, if I so much as mention Tyler, he'll probably be grumpy with me for the next week."

Hayley looked thoughtful. "I get it." Gently she took Caroline's hand in hers to show her understanding for Caroline's situation. Surprisingly, the blonde didn't pull back. "But it's _Tyler."_

And because it's about Tyler Lockwood, who she'll do just about anything for, Caroline agrees. Hayley smiles and, for a second, Caroline remembers their camaraderie from before the night of the slaughter of the twelve hybrids. They go home with three bags full of baby clothes, toys and wallpaper for the nursery.

* * *

When Klaus drove up in front of the Salvatore Boarding House, he didn't see the point of knocking so he simply flung the door wide open. He was rather astonished at the scene that greeted him: Damon and Elena were on the couch in what seemed to be a romantic cuddle while Jeremy Gilbert stared at them. The Gilbert boy had come back to life. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the boy, arms around his neck ready to snap it.

Elena gasped, jumped up, flashed over to him and tried desperately to pull his arms off of her brother. Damon was witnessing the commotion with a look of horror on his face. Klaus ignored both of them. "So it seems baby Gilbert has come back from the other side. Never mind the two brothers I lost thanks to him and your friends, the veil made an exception for him. No matter, it seems that I am currently in need of someone to contact the other side for me. Since Miss Bennett appears to have disappeared, you'll have to do." Still holding Jeremy in a death grip, he flashes out of the house.

* * *

Katherine woke up about an hour later. She felt happy, contented to know that Elijah had loved her enough to save her with his blood. Within a couple of hours, she would have killed herself and completed the transformation into a vampire. Granted, she wouldn't be as strong as she'd been before her death but at least she would be alive.

All this was running through her mind until she touched the spot on her neck where she'd wounded herself, expecting to find it healed. Instead, there was gauze on it. Katherine let out a long "_Shit!" _She looked around the cave, half-hoping to see Elijah, half-dreading it. He'd left. More to the point, he'd abandoned her. He might even be telling Klaus about her at that moment.

She realised while she had been so fixed on the idea that Elijah cared about her that she hadn't even considered the possibility that she hated her after all she'd done. She'd become something that he may never be able to love and so had he. She sank back onto the wall and started to sob so hard she could barely breathe. Finally she pulled herself together and dragged her body back into the secret cave that protected her from the Originals.

* * *

Klaus dragged Jeremy into the Original Mansion and to the centre of the ballroom. "I need you to contact Esther," he commanded.

"Why should I?"

Klaus replied, grinning, "You just got back to the land of the living. I would think that you wouldn't want to cross back so soon."

He sighed in frustration. "In any case, I can't just contact someone when ordered. I only saw her the one time and from what I've heard, she has no interest in contacting you." Klaus believed that Jeremy had been trying to hurt him but he'd stopped be wounded by his parents' feelings for him a long time ago.

"I've been around witches before. I know how it works: you pull from this side, they pull from the other. I also know that one pull from this side is too good for anyone dead to resist." He turned away from Jeremy. He rotated around the room, staring up at the ceiling and shouting, "Esther! Come on, Mother, you tried to kill me, the least you can do is help me raise your granddaughter."

"Wait, what?" asked Jeremy. Klaus didn't care in the least if Elena's kid brother knew that he was going to be a father so he ignored him. Jeremy perked up. "She's here. She says she doesn't want to help you make your daughter the abomination you are."

"Because becoming a werewolf would be so much better? I'm living in the supernatural capital of the world. It's kill or be killed around there." He tried not to let concern touch his voice.

Jeremy frowned as Esther spoke to him again. "Apparently she won't give you any answers but you should ask Elijah." He stared at the empty space behind him. "She's gone." He jumped as Klaus slammed his fist into the wall exactly as Elijah came through the front door.

"What happened, Niklaus?" Elijah asked calmly.

Klaus turned to him with a look of rage on his face. "Would you care to explain what my mother meant when she said you held the answer to my daughter's survival?"

For a second, Elijah looked concerned. He was, of course thinking of the unconscious member of the Petrova family he'd left in the caves next to the Lockwood cellar. But then he pulled a small vial of red liquid out from his suit pocket. "Do you mean this?" He walked to his brother and placed the vial in his hand. "It's the last of Elena Gilbert's human blood," he lied. Truthfully, he'd taken it from the steady flow dripping from Katherine's open wound. It was wrong and he knew it but indeed it had been she who'd harmed herself and he was just using that fact to make sure that Klaus wouldn't be force to bury the only child he would probably ever have.

Klaus beamed at his brother. "You found it!" he exclaimed, wrapping Elijah in his embrace. He dismissed Jeremy and followed Elijah to the car waiting outside.

They arrived at around 5 am the next morning. So as not to wake Caroline, they quietly slipped through the front door and walked quietly through the main living area. "Where have you two been?" said a voice behind them. Caroline was sitting in the kitchen flipping through Vogue.

"Caroline, sweetheart, you needn't have waited up for us," Klaus said casually.

"I don't appreciate being kept out of the loop. Where were you yesterday? What was so important that I had to be sent out with Hayley?"

"I don't need to justify myself to you, Caroline. This is _my_ apartment," he replied indignantly, dropping his careless facade. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Caroline and her judginess right now.

Caroline opened her mouth to argue back but found that she couldn't. He was right, she didn't have any rights over his actions. She went back to looking through her magazine while Klaus got himself a blood bag. At least now Caroline knew that he hadn't been off murdering people tonight. "Well, if you were wondering, the shopping went really well. In fact, Hayley and I got a crib-" Caroline was cut off by her phone. "Sorry! I've got to take this, it's Elena." She left the room and closed the door behind her as she entered her room.

"Hey, Caroline," said Elena from the other end. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm really, really good. Being away from Mystic Falls is great. But I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

"So what's been going on in Mystic Falls since I left? Catch me up on all the drama!"

"Well, surprisingly, not much has been going on. Jeremy and I have been looking for a new house,"

Caroline interrupted her, "Jeremy's back?"

Elena laughed, "Yes, Bonnie managed to get him back! Anyway, he's been getting adjusted and, um, me and Damon are together." Caroline held back from rolling her eyes. If Elena wanted to choose the Salvatore who'd abused her as a human and had made countless mistakes during the past few years, Caroline had no right to intrude. In any case, she was living with a serial killer, too. "Honestly, we've been kind of on edge since Katherine took the cure."

This was the final straw. How much could she have missed? "What?! Katherine's a human again? Is there any other huge bomb you want to drop on me?"

Elena giggles. "Sorry, Caroline, I didn't realise that you didn't know. I swear that's it! Well, I've got to go. Damon is taking me out tonight." She giggled again before saying, "Bye!"

"Bye," Caroline replied softly. She hit the End Call button and turned to see Elijah standing right behind her, blocking the doorway.

"You know," he murmured.

**A/N: So a couple of notes: Firstly, I'm so sorry there wasn't a bunch of Klaroline in this chapter but I kind of needed to get the plot set up for next chapter, which, I promise, is ALL about the two of them. Next, I integrated Kalijah, which I hope was ok with everyone. I think they're Adorable, even though I appreciate that I wasn't the kindest to Elijah. He was doing what he did out of love...**

**Special thanks to AngelofMusic44 for suggesting a bunch of baby names. I still need ideas for baby girl names and there's a poll on my profile to pick the perfect one.**

**Please follow, favourite, and leave a comment if you have any thoughts, ideas, etc.**


	8. Give Me A Reason Part 1

_**Chapter 8: Give Me a Reason Part 1**_

**Here it is: chapter 8. It's almost just Klaus and Caroline oriented from beginning to end. This is the first part of my big confrontation chapter. Things are about to get serious...**

**Thanks again to the lovely reviewers: SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUniverse and freshly caught Cornish pixies**

It took Caroline a few moments to realise what Elijah was talking about. She mentally skimmed through her conversation with Elena and fell on the moment she'd told her Katherine was human. Katherine, who was Elijah's epic love. Katherine, who Klaus had been chasing her for five hundred years. Of course Elijah would want to protect her. For perhaps the first time ever, Caroline had power over an Original.

"You know," he said again, louder this time as he heard the sound of Klaus closing the door behind him. He grabbed her shoulders and looks straight into her eyes, pupils dilating. "You will not tell Klaus what Elena told you tonight. You will forget that Katherine has taken the cure." As he saw Caroline's eyes remain as they were, his eyes widened in disappointment.

"Yeah, I'm on vervain!" she snapped.

"Caroline, you cannot tell Klaus that Katerina is a human again. He does not need to know that he has a new doppelganger blood bag," he said.

She placed her hand on her hip. "Why shouldn't I? She killed me!"

Elijah nodded sympathetically. This was the least composed he'd ever been. "I know that. Please, Caroline. You know what it's like to have Klaus hunt the person you love."

He was right of course. Even though Tyler hadn't done half the deplorable things Katherine had, both she and Elijah were in the same boat. She sighed, "What does it say about us that we're living with the man who's going after our loved ones?" Between her conversation about Tyler with Hayley and now this, she was starting to rethink where her loyalties lay. Worst still, her morals were getting confused. She realised that she really needed to sort her life out. "Look, I'll think about it. I need to go find Klaus."

"Thank you," he said as she slipped out of her bedroom and then outside. She strode down the street and then turned into the Dauphine Street bar. It was time for her shift but the real reason was because, as she predicted, Klaus was sitting on the bar stool, drowning himself in vintage bourbon.

"Hey," she greeted him as she dropped her handbag onto the counter. "Isn't it kind of early to be drinking?" she asked. Klaus ignored the question, answering simply by taking a long swig of beer. She filled the silence. "So, you seem pretty relaxed lately."

"Aren't I always?" he asked, grinning. He cocked an eyebrow at her and leaned back onto his seat. "What do you mean?"

"Here in New Orleans, you're not plotting or murdering or anything. It's refreshing."

"Caroline," he said, "You've lived your whole life in Mystic Falls. You don't realise that leaving that town changes you, it clears your head, at least for a while."

Caroline frowned. "If you hated Mystic Falls so much, why didn't you leave before you had to?"

His eyes met hers. He said simply, "Every time I tried, there was always something in my way." He studied her face. Blue eyes, blond hair, she looked like an angel smiling down at him. He was the dark to her light and yet there was genuine smile on her face when she was looking at him. For a second, it seemed like she might be opening up to him. Then she spoke.

"If you're head's cleared, have you rethought any of the decisions you made in Mystic Falls. Like, say, chasing Tyler to the ends the earth?" Her last few words were filled with judgement and bitterness.

Of course, Tyler. That boy was a thorn in Klaus' side, getting jammed further in every single time Caroline said his name. Didn't she understand that he'd betrayed him and forced him to kill his hybrids, even though he'd toiled for months to acquire them? No. All she could think about was how much she loved Tyler and how if she buttered up Klaus enough, she could get him back.

Klaus jerked out of his seat. "I should have known that was why you were here," he muttered. He started out of the bar. This time it was Caroline who was running after him.

"Hey! What the hell do you mean?" she yelled.

He rotated so that he was facing her squarely. "I mean that was why you came to New Orleans. Silly me, thinking you had enough self-respect not to prostitute yourself for _him!"_

She smacked him and bit back, "Actually, that's not why I left. I left for me, so that I could live my own life outside of Mystic Falls and because I wanted to protect my mother!"

"So either way, you were just using me," he continued, letting the hurt catch in his voice.

"You were my ticket out of Mystic Falls, but I honestly consider you a friend," she protested.

Klaus still didn't understand. "Then why would you bring _him_ up?"

"Is it that crazy that I might want to save the man who's being hunted because of me?" she asked. Before Klaus could decrypt what she meant by that, she raced out of the bar. She stopped a block away. Her heart was racing, not from the physical exertion but from the force of her confrontation with Klaus. The crazy thing was that she hadn't understood how much she was linked to Klaus' hatred of Tyler until now. Of course, Klaus felt betrayed by his hybrids but he was angry because she cared. She cupped her hands to her face, realising that confronting Klaus would maybe make Klaus even keener to kill Tyler.

* * *

About a quarter of an hour later, Caroline decided that Klaus would probably have left Dauphine and it was safe to get back to work. Much to her surprise, upon entering the bar she saw him chatting with Cami. He didn't seem to have moved since she'd left. Carefully, she snuck past them and into the kitchen. She noticed Klaus looking up at her but he didn't do anything. She breathed a sigh of relief. As she entered the kitchen, she saw that Sophie was staring through the small window in the door at Klaus and Cami. "I don't like him flirting with Cami like that," Sophie said explanatorily.

Caroline gaped at her. "He's _flirting_?!" she exclaimed, pressing her face to the glass. "With Cami? Why?"

Sophie shook her head. "I don't know. I tried to talk to her but I couldn't really without spilling some secrets. It's a shame there hasn't been any vervain in New Orleans in decades."

"He's being vindictive," Caroline sighed, turning away and pressing her body against the door. "I said some stuff to him that he didn't like and now he's taking it out on Cami to spite me."

"What did you say?" Sophie asked, interested.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Oh, I just asked him if he could stop harassing Tyler." Sophie nodded in understanding, having probably heard all about Caroline's ex from Hayley. She looked up as she heard her phone vibrate.

"It's a text from one of the other witches," Sophie explained. As she read it, she gasped and said, "I've got to go, like, right now! Can you cover for me?"

Caroline nodded earnestly as Sophie rushed out. Then she went back to staring at Klaus and Cami.

* * *

Meanwhile, Klaus was having a grand time charming the trousers off of the pretty bartender. He was not, as Caroline suspected, doing it to spite Caroline. He told himself he was only in need of some leisure, and he was awfully thirsty. By the time Cami's shift finished, Caroline had unglued herself from the window and Klaus took the opportunity to pull Camille outside into the alleyway.

He kissed her heatedly, delighting in being so close to her flesh and to the very blood in her veins. His hands explored the area under her t-shirt until Cami got self-conscious and pulled them away. "Not here," she breathed into his ear. Happy to comply, Klaus lead her down the street and finally into his building. Promptly his mouth met hers again.

It was her turn to strip him of clothing. As they pushed open the door to the loft, she tugged off his shirt and gazed down at his torso while he continued to kiss her neck and face. As he started to remove her shirt and then his trousers, she whispered, "Am I some kind of rebound off of Caroline?"

Klaus grinned wolfishly. "Do you care?" he asked, as he dropped his jeans to the floor. Admiring his form, she pressed her body up against his and snuck her tongue into his mouth. "No," she replied breathlessly.

Klaus pulled his mouth away and said, "Good, because you might not live to see the second date." Before she could ask him what he meant, his face unmasked his true vampire features and he sank his teeth into her neck.

After Sophie left, Caroline tried to keep an eye on Klaus and Camille at all times. She didn't know how to explain it but somehow she could tell that he was up to no good. Maybe it was the glint in his eyes or maybe it was the all-too-friendly way he whispered into her ear, pausing to inhale the scent of her lovely, warm blood but Caroline felt that Cami was nothing more than a piece of meat to him. Oh and then there was also the little voice in the back of her head telling her that Klaus was in love with her and would never flirt with another girl.

At that thought, Caroline pulled herself away from the scene unfolding before her eyes. She couldn't open herself up to thoughts tempting to accept Klaus' feelings for her. She started texting Sophie, enquiring about the big emergency at Witch Headquarters. Caroline could have sworn that she'd only turned her back a couple of moments, but when she walked out to the bar area, they were gone.

She panicked and pressed 5 on the speed dial. Klaus' phone rang twice before it passed to voice mail. Naturally, Klaus was ignoring her. She rushed out of the building and ran down the street, only a hair away from vampire speed. There she went; into the building, up the stairs, into the loft and finally into the master bedroom.

Caroline gasped when she saw Klaus draining the human girl of blood. Without thinking twice, she charged at him, knocking him off the bed. He snarled, an awakened beast, and pinned her neck to the wall. His monstrous features faded and he grinned at her. "Care for a bite?" he asked, pulling Cami's almost limp body to Caroline.

Involuntarily, she breathed in the scent of her blood. It was B+, her favourite. She turned away, hiding her face from Klaus. She let her bloodlust calm down, and then took Cami from Klaus. She felt his satisfaction as he saw her accept his gift. She looked straight into Cami's eyes and started her compulsion:

"You are to leave the French Quarter of New Orleans and you are to avoid it at all costs. You will forget everything that Klaus did to you tonight. You're just a little tipsy from drinking after your shift ended," she said. As Cami started to limp away, she called after her, "One more thing." She bit into her wrist and brought it to the bartender's mouth. "Go," she said softly, watching as Cami left the apartment.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she turned back to Klaus. Disappointment and sadness shone out of her face. Indignantly, he wiped his mouth of blood and rather immaturely he stuck his chin out, as if daring Caroline to reprimand him. She simply turned away. His actions spoke louder than any of her words could.

"That's it? No lecture about her being a person, not a blood bag? No search for the last fragments of my humanity?" he asked, grinning in conceit.

She stared at him in surprise. "Would it do any good?" She started to walk away but last minute she realised she couldn't just abandon him like that. She felt like she was responsible for his downwards turn. "Why did you do it?" Klaus was incapable of answering because he didn't even know himself. "Was it because I said something about Tyler; did you want to take your revenge or make me jealous or something?"

"How would I make you jealous when you've made it so perfectly obvious that you couldn't care less about me?!" he exclaimed.

"That's not true!" Caroline said. "I care, Klaus. If you thought I didn't then you wouldn't have done all this!"

"Did it ever occur to you that I was just thirsty? We're vampires, Caroline, it's what we do." Caroline could almost hear frost creep up into his voice.

Caroline shook her head fervently. "No, no, that's not it. I know you, you strike out because you're angry at the world, and most of all because you're hurt." She took a deep breath. She was going to be the bigger person here. "I'm sorry that I hurt you, Klaus, but you can't be mad at me because I'm trying to protect the man that I care for."

"Which one?" Klaus challenged. It was like he'd thrown down a gauntlet, like he was daring to deny the feelings she had for him.

"What are you talking about?" she replied quietly.

"I'm talking about how you're deeply attracted to me," he said. She scoffed at him. "Are we going to dodge around this for the rest of our lives? In a year, I might kiss you and in a century we might have slept together but nothing will ever come of it?"

The future he imagined for them seemed daunting to Caroline. She could just about picture him being around for the rest of her immortal life. One hundred years down the line, she's in a pub in a place far away, she gets drunk, he's there, and they sleep together. It sounded really depressing. She gazed up at him. He was waiting for her to reply, a kind of desperate want in his eye. His hair was mussed and blood stained his clothing. His mouth was in a tight, serious line.

Without thinking, she lunged for him, hooked arms around his neck and kissed him. It was rough at first, passionate, then it softened. She broke away. He stared at her, grinning, not at all smugly but with genuine happiness.

Out of the window, they heard a cry. Caroline rushed to the window and saw Marcel's vampires dragging five witches through the streets. Sophie was one of them.

**Please, please comment. I want to know what you thought about the kiss, the argument, etc and all your expectations for the next chapter. **

**Since this is a two-part chapter, I'll probably have the next chapter out within a couple of days, and then, unfortunately a short break.**

**Thanks!**

**-Brianne.**


	9. Give Me A Reason Part 2

_**Chapter 9: Give Me a Reason Part 2**_

**Shout-out to the reviewers: Pinkgem22, brighteyescoldheart and Klaroline-teenwolf!**

_Caroline rushed to the window and saw Marcel's vampires dragging five witches through the streets. Sophie was one of them._

Klaus followed Caroline's line of vision. Through the window, he could see Marcel's procession comprised of about a dozen of Marcel's vampires, including several members of his trusted circle, and at least six witches. Klaus stepped closer and peered down at them. He instantly spotted Sophie, Fabienne, Xavier, Elisabette, Louis and Patricia. Fear ran down his spine, something he rarely felt. Before Caroline could as much as comment, Klaus started to stride out of the room. Caroline was almost as worried as Klaus was and followed him. He stopped her. "Stay here," he said firmly.

"You can't expect me to sit here and do nothing!" Caroline protested. She tried to push the door but Klaus slammed it back.

"You won't help me if you go out there and you sure as hell won't be helping them." Without another word he flashed out, closing the door behind him. Within seconds, he arrived in the street, where a group of vampires had gathered as soon as dusk had fallen. The witches were pushed down onto the cobbles, kneeling as if heading to their execution. Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus could see Marcel pacing up and down grandly. He acted as if he owned the place and Klaus knew that all this bravado meant that he was about to put on a show, one that was sure to end with unnecessary blood spilt.

"My friends," he said into a microphone one of his cronies handed him. "We have gathered here today because we yet again face a problem with the witches who will not submit to me. Worst still, these witches have plotted my death and the downfall of the regime we have worked so diligently to put into place, with none other than my dear friend Klaus." There were gasps from the crowd as Marcel spotted him and lead him into the circle. Klaus almost scoffed at the absurdity of it all. After all, Marcel was no threat to him. He was simply an upstart that needed to be taught some manners. Still, Klaus was careful not to betray himself and reluctantly embraced Marcel as if they were really mates.

Marcel patted his shoulder as a father would pat a son's. He continued his tirade. "But we can't really blame Niklaus, can we? They were in fact threatening his child, his only heir." This was met with even more gasps. Some even laughed, obviously not understanding how Klaus could possibly be able to procreate. Marcel sauntered to one of the witches quietly sitting on the floor before him. "Elisabette, my darling, would you repeat what you told me?"

Sophie raised her head, panic shining in her eyes. Elisabette had been one of the only witches that had known about her plan to get rid of Marcel ever since the beginning. She was one of the older witches who remembered what life was like the last time the Originals were in New Orleans. Jane-Anne had been certain that she would help the cause. As it turned out, she wasn't to be trusted. Elisabette spoke slowly, her hard, cold voice made heavier by her strong Creole accent. "A few months ago, the Deveraux sisters discovered that a young werewolf was pregnant with the child of the Original hybrid, Niklaus Mikaelson. They bound the child by magic so that they controlled its life and that of its mother. Klaus was informed through the Petrova doppelganger and when he arrived here, a small group of witches blackmailed him into agreeing to plot against Marcel."

"Hear that? They agreed to plot against me! They threatened a baby! The good news is that the Klaus' baby is now free of their grasp. Congratulations, my brother," Marcel said. He looked at him expectantly.

Klaus was still for a moment as relief washed over him. His daughter would no longer have to pay for his actions. Then his gaze fell on the hand Marcel held out for him to shake and he realized that this was no great favour. This was a test. Marcel wasn't capable of killing an Original but he was sure that as long as he had witches on his side, Marcel would have of coursed transferred Sophie's control to himself. His baby's life depended on his loyalty to Marcel. Without hesitating, he turned and shook the open hand firmly, pressing a grin onto his face. "Thank you, mate."

"Anytime," Marcel answered carelessly. "You've seen how I end these trials. However, I wouldn't want to deprive the Hybrid of his revenge." Marcel's left hand man handed Klaus a short dagger with what looked like diamonds encrusted onto the blade.

Klaus took it. He strode towards the spot where the witches sat and grabbed Sophie's neck to pull her up. Sophie's eyes were filled with grief as they fell on the weapon he was brandishing. Her chin was up in pride but she couldn't make the tears that were rolling down her cheeks stop. With one fell swoop, Klaus thrust the dagger into her abdomen and then up into her heart. A moment later, she crumpled onto the floor before him. As he withdrew the knife from the girl, he glanced up at the window of the loft. Caroline was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

As Caroline had watched the display, every one of Marcel's words had made her blood coil with disgust and fear. She wasn't stupid. Behind the big smile and the attitude were threats. But Klaus let it slide. He wasn't doing anything, just standing there, mouth agape. Caroline could barely restrain herself from running downstairs and shaking him. It was all she could do to keep her breathing level as the news of Klaus' baby was broadcast to the entire supernatural population of New Orleans. Then her eye fell on the glittering dagger. She panicked as he approached Sophie. Without thinking, she flung the door open but before she reached the street, she heard the witch's body slam onto the ground.

Before she could scream, a hand clamped onto her mouth. Hayley held as her body lurched in horror. Caroline was almost unaware of her presence until the werewolf's tears slid onto her hair. It took two more minutes before the five witches all lay dead. Caroline couldn't look. Her shoulders sagging, she went back to her room and locked the door.

The first thing Klaus heard when he returned home was Caroline's sobs. He glanced at Hayley, who was sitting at the counter, hugging herself and staring at the whisky bottle which she couldn't use to soothe her hurt because of the body growing in her abdomen. "What is everybody so bloody upset about?" Klaus barked at her.

Hayley broke contact with the bottle and turned to him. "You murdered Sophie. They were friends and _you_ killed her."

"I think Caroline's been taking a lesson in double-standards from the doppelganger," he said, grabbing the open bottle of alcohol. "She's killed _twelve_ witches and I kill one and she turns on the waterworks." Hayley laughed bitterly but was taken aback as Klaus looked straight into her eyes. He murmured, "You know that I did it for the baby, don't you? If I hadn't you would be dead by now."

Hayley nodded. "I know," she replied. "But I don't think Caroline does. I'll leave you now." She left just as Elijah walked in.

"Why are the bodies of five witches lying dead in the middle of Bourbon Street?" he interrogated Klaus.

"I killed Sophie. Marcel killed the rest," Klaus said coldly. Ignoring his brother, he knocked on Caroline's door. There was no answer. Of course, it wasn't as if Caroline's door was any match for him but kicking it down probably wouldn't win him any points with Caroline. "Come on, love," he called, "Open the door. We need to talk."

"About what? I'm busy packing. I don't think I can live with a murderer!" There was an awful lot of noising coming from inside the room as Caroline thrust her suitcase onto the bed and then shoved her clothes into it.

Klaus cleared her throat. "Isn't that a tad bit hypocritical, love? After all, you killed not one, but twelve."

"That's not clever, Niklaus," said Elijah from the couch.

However, Klaus' comment did make Caroline finally open the door. "Don't you dare say that that was the same thing. Those witches were about to kill Bonnie!" she protested.

"I was trying to protect my daughter!"

"Sophie didn't want to kill her, Marcel did. You were being a coward!" She slammed the door back in Klaus' face. Instead of going back to packing, Caroline curled on her bed, pressing her knees up beneath her chin.

Klaus was right; she had killed just like he had. What had hurt so much about this last time, though? She knew why he'd done it and it was hard for her to blame him when she knew he'd simply been protecting his family. But the thing was that Klaus was a murderer. There was a reason why he'd been cast as the villain from the moment he stepped into town. He'd done countless amounts of horrible things and yet she always seemed to forgive him. Enough was enough, Caroline decided. If she stayed a moment longer with Klaus, she felt sure that she would turn out to be just as horrible.

She stared at her suitcase, willing it to give her the strength to leave because it was hard for her. She'd kissed Klaus. More than that, she'd kissed Klaus after he'd almost bled a human girl dry. What did that say about her? And when she'd kissed him, it had been as if she could see their future together. Just then, Caroline admitted something to herself, she _liked_ Klaus. She might even be in love with him, she didn't know.

But they'd never have a chance. She couldn't be with someone who hurt people like that because one day, he would hurt her. This honesty with herself gave her enough courage to pick herself off and brush away her tears. Caroline grabbed the suitcase and strutted out of the room. Klaus looked up as she waltzed past him. "Caroline," he started. But she ignored him. He kept calling her name. She walked up to Elijah and gave him her copy of the house keys and a note before saying, "Goodbye, Elijah."

She left the building. Klaus cursed then followed after her, calling over and over "Caroline, Caroline," growing more and more irritated every time. Finally he grabbed her waist and forced her to look at him. "Caroline, you can't leave because of what Marcel made me do."

Caroline's eyes flashed with anger. "Marcel didn't make you do anything. You're the Original Hybrid, for crap's sake!" She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I can't live with someone with no morals."

"Wake up, sweetheart," Klaus said harshly, "Morals aren't necessary to people like us. They cloud our judgement. You're not in high school anymore, love; you can't afford to be that naive."

"I certainly can't if you're around, which is why I'm leaving," she replied, walking briskly away from Bourbon.

"And what about us?" he asked, his eyes meeting hers. That coldness was replaced with a kind of desperate intensity.

Caroline scoffed into his face. "There is no 'us', Klaus. There can never be an 'us'. I can't handle it."

She left him on the street corner, watching as she yet again walked away.

* * *

Elijah woke up at three in the morning when he heard one of the crystal shot glasses break on the living room wall. He stumbled out of bed and went to see what his brother was up to. He found the floor littered with shards of glass. Klaus' face was red with anger and a vein on his temple was throbbing.

"What is it, brother?" Elijah said.

One by one, Klaus continued to throw glasses at the wall and fireplace. "Caroline left. She's gone. She couldn't '_handle'_ me." He reached out for another glass but found none. "Damn it!"

"I am aware Caroline left, Niklaus. You ignored her lack of presence when we lived in Mystic Falls. Why are you so upset?" he asked patiently.

"How could I be so stupid as to fall in love with a woman who not only was already involved, but also who would never consider giving me a chance?" Klaus said bitterly.

Elijah looked thoughtful. "It was the same with Tatia, I believe."

Klaus grabbed the vase and threw it emphatically. He gritted his teeth. "That's my problem, isn't it? Nobody will ever accept me. Not Mikael or Esther, not any of my siblings and most definitely not Caroline Forbes."

* * *

Caroline waited until she was a block away from Klaus to call a cab. As it pulled up, Caroline caught sight of a bonfire on Bourbon. The bodies of the witches had been set on fire. She closed her eyes and didn't open them until the car stopped in front of the airport. She had to wait for four hours before a plane arrived and by the time she got home, it was well into the morning.

She went straight to the Salvatore Boarding House. If there was anything she was looking forward to from her return, it was seeing her friends again. When she opened the door, she saw chaos looming before her eyes. On one side of the room, Elena was sitting on the couch sobbing her eyes out as Damon looked daggers at Jeremy, while, on the other side of the room, Mr. Bennett and Abby gripped each other tightly, something Caroline hadn't seen since elementary school. Just outside of the doorway, Matt and Rebekah stood together. Matt seemed as if he might puke and Rebekah seemed just as shocked as Caroline probably did.

Caroline planted her suitcase onto the floor and asked, "What the hell is going on?"

It was Matt who answered her. It sounded as if he had a hard time breathing. "Bonnie's dead."

**I'm actually pretty happy with the way this chapter turned out but I'd still really love it if you could please, please review and tell me what you think. **

**It will probably be a couple of weeks before I update again.**

**-Brianne**


	10. The Lonely

_**Chapter 10: The Lonely**_

**I'm so grateful for the mass of reviewers I had last chapter: Rucky, sandiw1875, jessnicole, SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUniverse, klaroline-maybe1day, chloe. quinn. 96, and freshly caught Cornish pixies.**

It was two days after Caroline came home and found out that Bonnie had passed away the night she'd left. It turned out that she had sacrificed herself so that Jeremy could come back to life. Romantic Caroline wished that someday she would be able to love someone enough to die for them. Bonnie's friend Caroline, however, would rather that kind of love not exist than her having to face the rest of her life without her best friend, the girl who she loved like a sister. She wished she could stay in bed and cry for days and days. She had already been feeling awful when she'd left New Orleans but this was a whole different story. This was more than agony; it was despair.

The worst part was that she couldn't wallow in self-pity. She had to be the strong one, the one who took grief with gracious acceptance. She'd been planning a memorial for Bonnie for the last few days. In a way, it was good to be back in her old stomping ground, organising an event and then a reception at the Lockwood House. If only it wasn't _this_ event she was planning.

At the end of a long day of Caroline burying herself in plans, she drove back to the Salvatore Boarding House. She'd decided to not move back into her mother's house and opted to stay with Elena, Jeremy and (regrettably) Damon. It was hard at first for her to so much as look Jeremy in the face after he had purposefully kept Bonnie's death a secret but he wasn't a particularly bad housemate, particularly since he shared her disgust towards Damon and Elena. As for the couple themselves, while she was glad to be there for Elena, it was hard for her to see them with each other. Caroline thought that she'd gotten over their being together, but somehow whenever they started acting couple-y, she found a reason to leave.

Presently, she walked in on the two of them cuddling on the couch. She almost looked away but instead cleared her throat and asked, "Have you managed to contact Stefan yet?"

Damon looked at her as if dumbstruck but proceeded to shake his head and reply, "Sorry."

Caroline pursed her lips. Since his departure, Stefan had been answering a total of zero of their phone calls, texts and emails. Caroline must have left at least a dozen messages telling him about Bonnie's memorial service and still, he was silent.

Caroline was drawn back down to earth as her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. It was Matt. "Hi, Matt!" she said, throwing down her bag and heading for her room. "You're coming to the service Saturday, right?"

"Yeah, of course, I wouldn't miss it, Care."

There was an awkward pause during which Matt failed to explain his motives for calling. Finally, Caroline had to ask exasperatedly, "So, what's up?"

"You're back," Matt stated, as if that explained everything.

"Yeah."

"Why? I mean, why did you leave New-"

Caroline cut him off to hush him. She was all too aware of the presence of two other vampires in the house. She turned on the tap in the en suite bathroom to drown out their conversation. "New Orleans is a bad place filled with really awful people," Caroline testified. "I didn't want to become one of them."

"By 'one of them', you mean Klaus," Matt perceived. He could hear her surprise from the other end and said, "Rebekah talks a lot about her brothers' drama."

"Pretty messed up, huh? I mean, he's the last guy in the world I'd imagine myself going on vacation with, let alone actually living with," Caroline divulged, "and somehow I wanted to. I was happy over there. And then I guess reality caught up with me."

"What happened?" Matt persisted.

"It doesn't matter what happened Matt. Klaus is a bad guy with a lot of baggage and I don't know how to handle that right now. "

"You're Caroline Forbes, hopscotch champion and possibly one of the strongest people I've ever met. You don't have to put up with Klaus and his problems."

"That's true," she replied. "But you don't have to put up with my problems either, and Damon has to put up with Elena's problems and Tyler had to put up with yours. What I'm trying to say is that Klaus and I formed a bond out there and I don't know what to make of it."

Matt took a deep breath. "Speaking of Elena and Damon, when are you going to tell them the truth about New Orleans?"

Caroline immediately jumped to the guilty part of her conscience. While her moving into the Salvatore House had been severely influenced by her mother knowing about her stay in New Orleans, it had been hard to stay without revealing her secret to Elena. That said, it wasn't like she was planning on telling her anything anytime soon. "Would it really be that bad if they didn't know?"

"She has a right to," Matt said. "Besides, I don't like keeping secrets for you."

"After everything between her and Damon, you know she's going to judge me!"

"But isn't it better that she hears it from you instead of from someone who'll make it into something it's not?" he pointed out.

Caroline thought it over for a moment. She couldn't just say no to Matt like that. After all, she didn't have any right to ask him to cover for her. Finally, she said, "Fine, I'll tell them after Bonnie's ceremony."

* * *

It was past noon on the same day in New Orleans. Klaus was tossing in bed, trying to convince himself to rise and face the day but coming to the conclusion over and over again that all he would be facing would be the life Caroline Forbes chose to leave behind. He was going to be the father of an illegitimate child, he was controlled by his former protégé and on top of that, he was certain that the sun which had burst into his life last year was now gone for good. Since Elijah had left to settle some business out of town, he'd spent his time between his bed, his studio and his bottle of vodka.

The minute his head left the pillow, his eyes flew instinctively to the spot where him and Caroline had fought and then kissed.

"_Did it ever occur to you that I was just thirsty? We're vampires, Caroline, it's what we do." _

"_No, no, that's not it. I know you, you strike out because you're angry at the world, and most of all because you're hurt. I'm sorry that I hurt you, Klaus, but you can't be mad at me because I'm trying to protect the man that I care for."_

Klaus buried his head back into his pillow. Caroline was incessant, or at least, his memories of her were. Unfortunately, Marcel was forcing him to come to a meeting outside of the French Quarter. While it wasn't strictly necessary for him to be there, Marcel liked to show off his control of the Original Hybrid.

Finally, he rolled out of bed and got himself some coffee to cure his searing headache. Twenty minutes later, he was sitting in a conference room talking over new policies for feeding during the day. He was bored out of his mind and almost-subconsciously started to text Caroline under the table:

**To: Caroline 3**

**From: Klaus **

_**If it makes you feel any better, I am being forced to do Marcel's bidding.**_

A minute later, Caroline fished out her vibrating phone and frowned as she saw that it was from Klaus. Muttering a "_Seriously?!"_, she begrudgingly opened it and couldn't help but laugh when she read its contents. Without stopping to think, she quickly replied.

**To: Klaus**

**From: Caroline**

_**Marcel's new little bitch, huh? If Tyler knew, he'd be laughing! **_

Caroline instantly regretted having sent the message. It was childish and petty, not to mention that it opened a line of communication between her and Klaus.

Klaus, on his end, was thrilled. This was the third or fourth message he'd sent her that week and it was the only one she'd actually answered.

**To: Caroline 3**

**From: Klaus**

_**The silence is broken.**_

This was met with total silence. Klaus tried to turn his attention back to the conference but Caroline remained on the back of his mind. He loved her spirit, how she wasn't afraid to challenge him and to defy him. He had an urge to smooth their relationship out again.

**Klaus: **_**Come on, love, you can't be mad at me for protecting my family. I kept you out of it so that you wouldn't be involved.**_

_**I became involved the minute you kissed me, **_Caroline texted furiously back. She waited for his answer impatiently. It came rather quickly:

**Klaus: **_**Ah! But you kissed me. I was an innocent victim.**_

Caroline slammed the phone back onto the mattress and pushed her body away from it. She didn't see why Klaus would dare bringing up that day in the woods when they'd technically had their first ever kiss. She turned to go to the bathroom and get into the shower.

"_Oh my God, you're Klaus! You're disgusting!"_

"_And you're a glorious kisser. Listen, I didn't have to risk exposure to come save you."_

"_Oh, you do one semi-decent thing and now you're my hero? Ugh, I need to go sanitize my mouth!"_

"_Your mouth was all over me. I was an innocent victim."_

"_Put Tyler back!"_

"_Gladly. Then maybe I'll take you up on your offer of hot hybrid sex."_

Caroline was hit by a sudden wave of memories from that very day. She'd been disgusted by Klaus then but now she was literally daydreaming about him! Caroline shivered self-consciously and rushed downstairs to join the company of the sane.

Damon and Elena were in the kitchen, cooking some kind of non-vampire meal. They were laughing and Damon had his arms around her. Caroline looked at them weird. The vampires in the house were kept pretty well fed by the cooler in the basement and Jeremy mostly lived on pizza or take-out. "What's all this for?" she asked.

Elena raised her head from chopping and her smile fell from her face. "We thought we'd take a casserole to Mayor Hopkins' house."

Caroline frowned. She'd been on the receiving end of sympathy casseroles barely a year ago. "A casserole won't bring Bonnie back Elena," she commented.

"What happened to the eternal optimist, Little Miss Sunshine?" commented Damon.

Caroline didn't know what was coming over her but suddenly she felt really angry for some reason or another. "Let me think, our best friend died and you two are standing there playing Happy Families!" she said.

Damon and Elena exchanged worried looks. Elena seemed hurt. "Come on, Blondie. You didn't turn it off, did you?" asked Damon, slightly worried though probably mostly for Elena's sake.

"No!" Caroline protested. She saw Elena visibly sigh in relief. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just in kind of a bad mood. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." There was an awkward pause between the three of them and Caroline quickly tried to shift the subject away from herself. "All the invites arrived today. All of Mystic Falls knows now."

"The sooner we can get this memorial over with, the sooner we can put this all behind us," Elena said grimly. Caroline frowned and turned away. What had come over her earlier? She had seen the couple and instantly seen red. It was like she was going crazy. _Or you're jealous,_ whispered a little voice inside her head.

* * *

Klaus was feeding from a young woman behind the bar where Caroline used to work. It was his third drink that evening. He intended to get drunk on blood. He wanted his bloodlust to be more powerful than his lust for the blonde who'd captivated him and who had left him. He snarled as someone pulled the body out from under him. It was Rebekah.

"I wasn't finished," he growled.

"Yeah, well you're getting sloppy," snapped Rebekah. "I had to get rid of the two other bodies you drained myself!"

"I didn't ask you to do that, sister," he said wearily. He wasn't in the mood to get a lecture from Rebekah of all people. After all, it had been she who'd committed murders around the world each time she'd been heartbroken by one of her many boyfriends. Deciding to ignore his sister, Klaus went back to his drink. Rebekah waited patiently next to him for him to finish and when he did, she pulled him home.

After she'd made him take a long shower to erase all the blood, she sat him down with a cup of vintage, barely-counts-as-liquor wine and asked, "What happened?"

"Christ, is nobody allowed to drink anymore without somebody thinking it's an opportunity to psycho-analyse them?" he exclaimed.

"So it's a total coincidence that Caroline Forbes arrived home two days ago and now you're drowning your sorrows like some cheap drunk?"

"And what is it to you, little sister?" Klaus' face contorted into an ugly sneer. "Have you come here to enjoy my pain after all the times you suffered? Well, guess what? I'm fine!" He relaxed into a smirk. "You can leave now, Rebekah. I assure you, you're not wanted here."

Rebekah shook her head. "You are such a _guy_! Why won't you admit that you're in love with her?"

Klaus grinned and started to chortle into his glass. He couldn't stop himself. Rebekah was just so ridiculous sometimes. His sister was, of course, staring at him as if he'd gone bonkers. When she asked him what the hell the matter was, he answered, "You aren't even being vindictive! You may have lived a hundred lifetimes and yet you still believe we're family enough for me to tell you all my gooey little secrets!"

Rebekah, got up, ready to flounce out of Klaus' loft but she wasn't leaving with getting the last word. "You're a fool," she spat. "You're closer to happiness- to experiencing an epic love- than I've been in a very long time and yet you sit here, on your ass, getting drunk and high on blood." Klaus didn't even look up at her, but flinched as the door slammed behind her.

Still, what Rebekah had said stuck with him for a long time. Was Caroline really his epic love? Ever since he'd turned into a vampire, he'd avoided the 'L' word like the plague. The drama with Tatia as well as her death had haunted him. But, then again, Caroline haunted him now. That time when he'd almost killed her, she'd said that he could be saved. She'd said:

"_It's because you're hurt, which means that there is a part of you that is human."_

"_How could you possibly think that?"_

"_Because I've seen it. Because I've caught myself wishing that I could forget all the horrible things that you've done."_

"_But you can't...can you?"_

"_I know that you're in love with me... and anybody capable of love is capable of being saved."_

For the better part of an hour, he replayed those words in his head again and again in the back of his head. Finally, he stood up and looked at the couch, picturing the one in the Gilbert House. As he watched, he saw Caroline take her last breaths and when she was lying still, he bolted from the room. Now he knew: he was in love with Caroline Forbes.

* * *

Caroline gazed at her reflection in the full-length mirror in the Salvatore's guest room with a critical eye. She was dressed from head to toe in black, which contrasted pleasingly with her fair skin and blond hair but was still a jump from the flower prints and bright colours she usually wore. Unfortunately, the dress code to Bonnie's memorial presented her with few options in the way of fashion. Satisfied, she turned to the vanity table where she sat, examining the bags underlining her eyes. The hours of organising flowers and receptions to mourn her best friend had had a straining effect on her. Despite the sleep she'd gotten last night, her muscles were rigid and cramped.

She moaned with a sigh of relief when cool hands rested on her shoulders and began to massage her neck. Slowly, Klaus bended and his lips started caressing her collar, working his way up finally to her mouth...

Caroline jerked awake, panting heavily. She realised quite quickly that it had all been a dream. Her outfit for the service lay on the chair where she'd left it the night before and it was only barely sunrise. Irked by the dream, she climbed begrudgingly out of bed and began to get ready. Though, as a vampire, much less time was needed to get ready than before, today, she went extra slowly, as if readying herself for the long day in front of her. By the time she'd applied her makeup, she could already hear noise downstairs.

After her outburst the day before, she wasn't looking forward to coming face to face with her friends if she was to control herself today, she would need at least one of those bags of B+ that Damon kept in the cooler. Caroline resolved to act as if nothing had happened.

She arrived in the kitchen as Elena and Damon were having their own breakfast. Ignoring the older Salvatore, Caroline flung her arms around her best friend. "Thank you so much for coming today, Elena."

"Of course," Elena said, hugging her back. "Are you ready?"

Caroline nodded. Grabbing her purse, she answered, "As I'll ever be."

Bonnie Bennett's memorial service was in Fell's Church. Almost the entire town showed up thanks to Caroline bullying most of them into attending and because Bonnie had grown up in Mystic Falls, where everyone knew her. Many spoke, sharing memories of school trips, dances, and birthdays, including Elena, Matt, Mr. Bennett, and an aunt. She cried and she laughed and she felt closure. Before, she couldn't move past Bonnie's death, couldn't even think about what might happen next for her. Now, she felt she could continue with her life, though she would never forget her friend.

After the service, the congregation moved to the Lockwood Estate, which was only a short walk away, for the reception. Caroline, surprisingly enough, wasn't needed to interfere with almost any major event catastrophes and was free to mingle. Surprisingly, she actually had fun. She'd missed the small-town community atmosphere of Mystic Falls. Though there were many, many faces missing, she was still happy to around the people who'd practically raised her.

After the last couple of people left the party, she returned to the Salvatore Boarding House, knowing what she finally was to reveal to her friends. Damon and Elena were on the couch. They'd left the party early because Elena was so upset by Bonnie's memorial.

"Damon, Elena," she said with a deep sigh, "There's something I need to tell you."

The couple turned around to look at her. Elena nodded apprehensively, signalling her to continue.

"For the past few weeks, I haven't been at my dad's boyfriend's house like I said. I've been with Klaus in New Orleans," Caroline explained.

"What?!" exclaimed Damon. "You shacked up with the Original Hybrid?"

"Well, not at first. I only moved into the loft when Marcel, the so-called King of New Orleans, threatened me."

"Yeah," Damon muttered, "And I'm sure Klaus didn't take advantage of that." Caroline stared daggers at Damon, knowing perfectly well what he was insinuating.

She was about to rebuke him when Elena murmured, "Damon, that's not fair."

"Whatever. I don't need this crap!" Damon exited his house, slamming the door behind him.

Elena, avoiding Caroline's eyes, patting the seat beside her and Caroline sat. Caroline could feel a disconnect between her and her friend. She could tell there was suspicion there. "Elena, nothing happened between me and Klaus."

When Elena finally spoke, her voice was heavy and hoarse. "Nothing? How can you expect me to believe that when he's obviously in love with you and you lived together?"

"Okay, fine, I kissed him once. But that was before he proved what a really, really awful person he was," Caroline confessed.

"How could you after everything he's done to all of us? And what about Tyler?"

"Tyler left me, Elena," Caroline said.

Elena looked sympathetically towards her and Caroline remembered when she had been so torn up because Stefan had left her. "I know, Caroline," said Elena. "But it's Klaus!" She shuddered.

"And what about all the horrible things Damon did to me?" Caroline accused.

Elena frowned, offended. She protested, "People change!"

"And I thought Klaus had too! I made a _mistake!"_

Elena turned away. "I don't think Damon would be comfortable with having you stay here anymore. I think you should probably go."

Caroline replied, "Okay." Then, she went upstairs to get her things. After Caroline had packed up all her stuff and walked proudly out of the Salvatore House, she drove home to the house she'd grown up in. She felt so very, very stupid. How could she have let herself go to New Orleans of all places with Klaus of all people after everything he'd done to her friends? Now Damon was mad at her and Elena wouldn't answer her calls.

As Caroline strode into her bedroom, she realised that all she wanted to do was crawl into a ball and cry. Stefan was MIA, Damon and Elena had kicked her out of their lives probably for good and Matt had just texted her to tell her that he was joining Rebekah in Peru or something, not to mention that since he'd given her his house, Tyler hadn't contacted her. Was this going to be her life for the next thousand years? Just surviving, but forever having to live with that loneliness.

No, she wouldn't let it be! She remembered less than a year ago when she'd been in this very room, packing to start her life away from this town with Tyler Lockwood. Caroline decided to find Tyler and they could be together forever. Maybe they could discover the world, like Matt and Rebekah.

Caroline repacked her suitcase and turned to leave only to see a figure in the doorway. "Hello, love," Klaus said.

**Wow! I didn't expect this chapter to be so long! It was a pretty challenging chapter but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I'm sorry about the lack of Klaroline in this chapter but, by the cliffy, I'm sure you can tell that the next chapter will be full of it.**

**I like how in this chapter we see really how Klaus' feelings for Caroline affect him personally. Also, I think Caroline's also starting to understand the loneliness that Klaus feels.**

**Next chapter: get ready for the return of Tyler Lockwood!**

**Please, please, review, comment, predict how Caroline reacts to Klaus' reappearance, etc! **

**-Brianne**


	11. Broken Heart, Mended Bridge

_**Chapter 11: Broken Heart, Mended Bridge**_

**Thanks for the awesome reviews: SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUniverse, sandiw1875, jessnicole, Guest, lovenhope123, sadaf3213, klarolinefictonlover , Guest, and freshly caught Cornish pixies**

"What the hell are you doing here?" cried Caroline, taking in the sight of him. Klaus smirked, as if he thought she was checking him out. He then proceeded to invite himself into her room and sit on her bed. _Seriously?!_ Caroline thought.

"I'm here, love, because I thought it might be convenient for you to have a car at your disposal to take you home to New Orleans, now that you're no longer burdened with your friend's unfortunate passing away," Klaus explained. It sounded as if he were explaining this to a child.

Caroline shook her head and she continued her way downstairs. "I am _not_ coming back to New Orleans. Contrary to your belief, I actually had a life before you showed up. I have plans," she snipped.

"And what plans would those be, sweetheart?"

"I'm going to find Tyler," she said impetuously. Upon realising what she had said, she swore she could have swallowed her own tongue.

"Really?" Klaus grinned, his sharp, wolfish teeth showing. "Might I be allowed to accompany you on this quest of yours?"

"No," Caroline said firmly, her voice wavering.

Their conversation had turned from teasing at best to something a lot more serious. Because of Caroline's little slip-up, she realised that Tyler's life could be on the line. Klaus, on his end, wasn't at all thinking about harming Tyler but rather of being able to finally prove what a changed man he was. He couldn't kill Tyler without making it impossible for him and Caroline to ever have a proper relationship. "I promise it wouldn't be to hurt him," he told her.

Caroline scoffed. "I know better than to believe that."

Klaus looked at her darkly. "Call me what you want; but don't call me a liar."

"Besides, I've decided it's time for Tyler and I to get back together." Out of the corner of her eye, Caroline could see the hurt that flickered in Klaus' face. She truly didn't want him to get upset but she had to tell her truth. She continued, "I love him and if you care for me at all, you'll let me be with him."

It was almost ironic that his 'caring for her' was precisely what made him want to sink his teeth into Tyler Lockwood. He watched Caroline as she stalked outside and he ran after her. When he reached she had just slammed the car door after her. Before she could leave, he gripped his hands on the open window sill.

"Caroline, if you go to him now, I'll go after him too," he warned Caroline. "I can't guarantee that you'll escape uninjured in this fight."

"Go to hell!" Caroline spat as she pressed on the accelerator.

* * *

Caroline finally stopped at a gas station after having driven like crazy for the past hour. She'd been trying to avoid her thoughts but instead they just kept coming up again and again. She didn't know whether she'd done the right thing or not. On one hand, she wasn't going to let Niklaus Mikaelson dictate her life. On the other, her gamble could have some very bloody circumstances. By following Tyler, she had officially put him back on Klaus' radar and she wasn't confident enough to trust that, whatever feelings Klaus had for her, he would forego killing Tyler, maybe even killing her. Klaus had always been very impulsive for as long as she'd known him.

She decided that she needed to chill. She would get a soda, maybe a magazine and she'd finally stop hyperventilating. After having bought these precious items, Caroline returned to her car. She tried figuring out the map she'd brought along. One advantage that she had over Klaus was that she thought she knew where Tyler was. She suspected that he was in one of the places their mothers had decided that they go when the council found out about them almost a year ago. The problem was that she didn't have a GPS and her map-reading skills weren't exactly up to par (she hadn't been taught by Magellan after all!).

She drove for the next three hours without stopping. Her head hurt by the end from listening to her stereo at a really high volume and her eyes could barely stay open when she finally drove into Highbury, Delaware. It was the evening and as she drove by a bar, she saw around five or six men leaving it. She stopped when her eyes met Tyler's.

* * *

Klaus was alone on the sidewalk next to Caroline's house, left to watch her car drive into the sunset. She yet again eluded him. He wanted to think she was running from him due to her feelings for him but he knew it was because he was being a creepy stalker. Hadn't he concluded after being forced to watch Twilight by Rebekah that he would never turn into Edward Cullen?

His temper was riled up, though. He snapped out his phone and quickly dialled Elijah's number. He picked up on the second ring. "Hello?" said Elijah.

"Elijah, I need you to send a witch to Mystic Falls stat!" Klaus demanded. He was about to hang up when Elijah spoke again.

"Niklaus, I hope you aren't considering doing something you'll regret." Elijah sounded scolding, as if he could tell exactly what was going on from hundreds of miles away.

Klaus felt as if he was being scolded like a child. He brushed off Elijah's comment. "Call me when the plane lands."

Without waiting for a reply, he hung up the phone and started walking towards the Lockwood Property. He needed his witch to do a location spell to find his hybrid but to do that he needed a personal item of Tyler's. Just as he was about to turn the corner, he realised that, of course, he couldn't enter the house without Caroline's permission. He made a 360° turn and headed straight for the Forbes House.

By this time, Sheriff Forbes had returned from work but Klaus hadn't noticed, being in such a rush. He surprised her drinking her coffee. Immediately, she pulled out her gun. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

It barely made a dent. Klaus gritted his teeth. "Easy, Sheriff! I don't want to hurt you but if don't put that gun down and help me, I can't guarantee that Caroline won't be hurt."

Liz didn't move. "You wouldn't hurt Caroline."

"Wouldn't I?" Klaus challenged. The fear in the sheriff's eyes betrayed her. Klaus took this as a signal that he was free to continue his investigations. He climbed the stairs just as he had earlier that day and just as he had when he'd first saved Caroline from Tyler's werewolf's bite. He enjoyed Caroline's room. It contained mementos from her entire life so it had kind of magic nostalgic feeling. Also, it was sunny and bright, which was, of course, perfect for Caroline. Nevertheless, it was incredibly cluttered. Were it not for the cardboard box, he would have been searching for hours.

The box was sitting on a chair next to the vanity. It was filled with jerseys and pictures of Caroline with Tyler. It wasn't exactly neat but rather looked as if somebody had sifted through it several times. Every object seemed to contain a small piece of Tyler and Caroline's _love_ for one another. He would have been more than happy to sacrifice the entire box for the location spell but he settled on the charm bracelet at the very top of the stack.

He liked that Caroline usually wore _his_ bracelet instead of his sire's.

* * *

Tyler hugged Caroline the moment she stepped out of the car, a big, cheesy grin plastered on his face. Caroline wore the same expression. "Tyler!" she squealed when he let her go. "I've missed you so much."

"Me too, Care," said Tyler. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the rest of his gang and asked Caroline, "Do you want to go back to my place? We could order in, catch up?"

Caroline nodded eagerly, her blond curls bouncing on her shoulders. Her face was pink and her eyes shone with delight. She followed Tyler around the corner and up into his small apartment. It was fairly bare and incredibly messy. Pizza cartons carpeted the floor and dirty clothes lay everywhere. Caroline didn't care, though. It was enough for her to be here with Tyler.

As Ty phone the Chinese place Caroline made herself comfortable on the couch. He sat down next to her. "So, what are you doing up here?"

"I came for you," she said, "I missed you! I didn't want to be away from you anymore. Really, how have you been?"

"I've been good. I actually feel normal, here. I got a job as a busboy in the bar downstairs. I made a couple of buddies…"

They spent the rest of the evening catching up. Tyler mentioned that he'd tried to come and find her after graduation and she narrowly avoided straight-up lying about her stay. Finally, she had to bring up Bonnie's death and after that, things cooled between the two of them. She slept in his belt but that didn't anything remotely sexual happened between the two of them. For some reason, Caroline wasn't disappointed.

The next morning, Tyler rose early because he needed to go to work but at breakfast, he promised that he would take her out that evening for dinner. Caroline spent her morning on the phone with Matt and then trying to get Elena, Stefan and even Damon to answer her messages. In the afternoon, she went out to the nearby forest to hunt. Even though she knew where Tyler kept the cooler filled with blood bags, there was something about the forest that calmed her. It let her blow off some steam.

As she left the woods, she caught sight of somebody entirely too familiar.

"Hello, sweetheart," greeted Klaus, leaning against a brier tree. "I see you've found Tyler."

Caroline froze. For the first time in a very long time, she was very scared of Klaus. She was all too aware that Tyler was only about half-a-mile away and that Klaus could easily outrun her. "You need to leave," she said, her voice trembling.

Klaus acted as if she hadn't spoken. He approached her slowly. "I'm surprised Tyler took you back after finding out that you'd been with me for weeks." Gently, he moved her chin so that he was looking directly into his eyes. "That you kissed me." Caroline slapped his hand away. "Oh, I see: he doesn't know."

Caroline raised her chin indignantly. "I made a _mistake._"

"That's the beauty of it: that mistake could cost you your boyfriend, sweetheart."

Caroline was fuming. Her face was red and she couldn't control the hot tears accumulating in her eyes. She was losing this battle with Klaus. "What do you want form me?" she gasped.

"I want you to leave this town and never think about Tyler Lockwood again," he stated honestly. There was a desperate behind every syllable he spoke.

"Why?" Caroline asked. Klaus wasn't making any sense. Why hadn't he already killed Tyler? Why did he insist on continuing to torment her?

"If you stay, you'll get hurt and I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from killing him because of it." His eyes pleaded with her to listen to him.

"Tyler's a good guy, Klaus," Caroline murmured, stunned by Klaus's confession. "If you want me to be happy, you'll leave him alone."

"Just tell him," said Klaus before flashing away. As he ran, he cursed himself for not having the strength to kill someone Caroline loved.

* * *

After Tyler's shift ended, he found Caroline waiting for him outside in a pretty pink dress and wedges with bows on the front. She smiled at him. "Hi," she said as she kissed his cheek.

"You look great," he complimented her. He was the very picture of southern charm. _My very own Ashley Wilkes,_ Caroline thought.

Hand in hand, they walked down the main street of this sleepy Delaware town. They looked like the picture perfect couple. Still, Caroline was gnawing on the inside of her cheek, dreading the confession she was to make to Tyler. When they reached the grill, the hostess smiled at them and immediately found them a romantic table for two. Tyler pulled out her chair for her.

"This is so nice," Caroline said softly, grinning from ear to ear. Tyler didn't reply because his face was buried in the menu. "Tyler, I need to tell you something important."

At her tone, Tyler looked up, half-smiling and half-frowning. "What's up?"

"I haven't been with my dad's boyfriend for the past couple of weeks," she started. Then, she took a deep breath. "I've been in New Orleans with Klaus."

Tyler bolted up, almost knocking his chair to the ground. He walked quickly out of the restaurant, looking both ways as if Klaus was about to tackle him then and there. Caroline alarmed, rushed after him. "Tyler," she called, "Wait!"

"Where is he?" Tyler shouted. He looked terrified, as if this was the last moment of his life.

Caroline frowned, shaking her head. "What? Nowhere! He isn't here."

Tyler seemed to calm down slightly but when Caroline tried to approach him, he backed away instantly. Caroline hadn't expected this; she hadn't expected him to be scared of _her_. "Why did you do it? What did Klaus do?"

Caroline continued to shake her head. "He didn't _do_ anything!"

"Then why would you go to New Orleans with him?"

She shrugged and tried to explain, "After you left, I was really lonely and some really bad stuff was going on. Silas found a way to mess with my head and he almost killed my mom! So after graduation, I figured I needed to get out of town and Klaus was there…"

"Why would you trust Klaus of all people?" Tyler asked. He seemed to have calmed down but he was still suspicious. "He's tried to kill both of us repeatedly!"

"After you left, we kind of became friends-"

"What?" Tyler interrupted. "Friends? Why are you telling me this?"

"I left when things got really ugly down there but before, things got heated and I kissed him," Caroline said, breathing heavily.

Tyler punched the wall next to him. His breath was shallow and heavy. He sighed and looked her straight in the eye, taking a couple of steps forwards so that their chests were almost touching. "I don't think I can get over this."

"Tyler, please! I'm so, so sorry!"

"It's over, Caroline."

Caroline felt as if she were in court and had just been pronounced guilty. The next time she blinked, Tyler was gone. Tears started to trickle down her face. _Tyler was gone_. She felt so completely and utterly alone. She began to sob as she found her way back to her car. She must have sat in the front seat for a long time, simply crying her eyes out. Eventually, she felt two strong arms wrap around her torso. It felt nice but when she finally peered up at Klaus, she jumped back.

"Why do you have to keep appearing every single damn time I feel like crap about myself," she muttered angrily.

"I've come to take you home," Klaus said patiently.

"What home?" Caroline cried. "I can't go home to my mom's without putting her in danger all over again. I can't go to Tyler's without thinking about how I betrayed him. My friends are all either dead or not answering. You were right all along."

"Right about what?" he asked.

Caroline realised she was shaking so hard that a breath of wind could probably send her to New Mexico. "In the end, we're left infinitely and utterly alone," she breathed. "That's what you told Stefan the night of the hybrid massacre, isn't it? He couldn't get that out of his head for weeks. It's true!"

Klaus stared at her, stunned that someone like Caroline Forbes could ever be in such a dark place. "Sweetheart, you don't need to feel like that ever. You're a good person and you're so very full of light."

Caroline gazed deep into his eyes. "I don't want to be alone, Klaus. Please, take me home."

Without hesitation, Klaus shifted Caroline into the passenger seat and drove her car out of Highbury, heading back to New Orleans.

**Please review to tell me what you thought about Tyler, the Forwood break-up, the Klaroline make-up and whatever else! **

**In case any one was wondering, Highbury is a town name that I found in _Emma_ by Jane Austen**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Brianne**


	12. Change

_**Chapter 12: Change**_

**Thank you reviewers! I love you all: Klaroline-teenwolf, jessnicole, sandiw1875, SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUniverse, karmen238, Guest, and sadaf3213!**

Caroline stared out of the window of her car as Klaus drove them out of Delaware and then through the many winding roads of South-Eastern America. She liked watching the landscape change from the trees and mountains of the north to the beaches of the coast and to the wide, open fields of the south. Her eyes sagged with fatigue but she couldn't imagine being able to go to sleep with her break-up with Tyler still fresh in her mind. Instead she talked to Klaus. He told her about his past – all the cities he'd visited, all the people he'd met and all the adventures he'd had – while she told him about his childhood, especially about growing up with her friends. They talked about art and music and Klaus renewed his promise that someday, if she'd let him, he would show her the world. But for now, he decided, they'd better stick to discovering New Orleans.

"So what are the most important places to see in New Orleans?" Caroline asked curiously of Klaus. He always talked so passionately about the city and she desperately wanted to know what he saw there that she couldn't, being both widely younger and much less educated.

"Well, if you asked a guide book, it would probably be the cemeteries and the plantation houses all while experiencing the unparalleled Mardi Gras celebrations," Klaus mocked. Then he seemed thoughtful. "Really, everything that I ever wanted to remember about the city is gone, washed away by wars or the changing population."

Caroline stared at him quizzically. "So you mean it's a dead city?"

Klaus shook his head. "The beauty of New Orleans is how _alive_ it is! It's constantly evolving and becoming something new. But the people stay the same. They'll always love jazz and colour and art. It keeps it interesting for those of us who've had centuries to discover it." He winked at Caroline as he said that.

She was struck by how he never seemed regretful about becoming a vampire, unlike her, who was always wistful for the life she could have led had she not died at 17, only to be reborn again. Klaus only saw the beauty of vampirism. He seemed to find wonder in everything.

"Penny for your thoughts?" said Klaus. His eyes were so locked on the road that he hadn't noticed her staring at him.

Caroline shifted in her seat so that her body was turned directly towards him. "I was just thinking about how you're the type of person who sees magnificence in everything."

"You overestimate me, love," Klaus said, though he did seem rather flattered. "I just appreciate art, music and history, and I have amazing taste." He flashed a smile in her direction and Caroline giggled. "You'll like New Orleans, I promise."

"I know I will," Caroline mused. Though she hadn't done one bit of sight-seeing during her previous stay, she'd liked all the scenery and she'd probably seen live music every night. Then again, as she'd told Klaus before, she hadn't really ever been anywhere else. She started to think about the cities she would see during her open-ended lifetime. Only that lead her right back to thinking about the tips she had planned to take with Tyler before all the drama.

The moment her ex-boyfriend entered her brain she tried very hard to wash him out again. Do you know the feeling when you're trying very hard to stop thinking about something and yet that only makes it worse? That was what Caroline had been doing for the past few hours. She changed the subject. "You know, I've been thinking," Caroline told Klaus, "That maybe I could join the New Orleans Historical Society when I get back. I don't really want to go back to waitressing." Unspoken lay the reason why she couldn't face going back to the bar on Dauphine. "And I'll miss all the Mystic Falls Historical events that I used to plan."

She could have sworn she almost saw Klaus roll his eyeballs at her but she let it slide. He was trying to suppress laughter, remembering Caroline's fearsome approach to organising pageants and proms. "They'd be lucky to have you," he praised her amid chortles.

She glared at him and occupied the rest of the recounting the many events she had helped plan in Mystic Falls. By the time they drove into the city, Klaus had stopped listening to Caroline's words and was instead concentrating on her clear, musical voice. As he parked, he quickly rushed over to the passenger side and opened the door for her. Caroline smiled but as she pulled out her suitcase, she put a hand on Klaus' arm. "Klaus," she began, "I think before we go in, I have to make something clear: I know you'd never hurt me, at least not intentionally, but I can't live here knowing that you would hurt others. No killing, no drinking from innocent people, no plotting. I mean it! If I hear about anything, I leave and never speak to you again."

"Caroline, I've been this way for a thousand years," argued Klaus. "Don't think that you can change me."

"I'm not trying to change you. I'm asking you to change yourself for the better," explained Caroline. Without waiting for any further protestations, she waltzed into the building and up the Originals' loft, disappearing into her room to change out of her travel clothes. Klaus waited for her in the living room, contemplating what she had asked of him. He wanted to be a better man for her. She deserved that much. But was he capable of it after so very long? _Damn it, if Tyler Lockwood or Damon Salvatore can do it, so can I, _he resolved eventually. After all, there was no living without Caroline now. She was here to stay.

* * *

Klaus took Caroline out into the French Quarter for her first glimpse of historical New Orleans. He explained to her that he'd first come to the city during the American Revolution. He'd come over with the British war effort but upon discovering the way the rebels were sneaking supplies up the Mississippi, he'd hitched a ride on one of the Patriot ships. "Of course, the city was much smaller then," Klaus explained. They were strolling by the river and he pointed out onto the bank. "Instead of the city, back then all you could see were swamps and fields. It was ruled by the Spanish back then but a large part of the population still spoke French. And it was already a huge slave port. The mix of cultures that makes New Orleans so special was already beginning to be shaped." Caroline listened, incredibly intrigued by the history that Klaus got not from history books but from living memory.

He told her that this was when he'd turned Marcel, who'd been a second-generation slave and who had been working in the port. Klaus had never liked to be alone in his travels so he bought Marcel from his owner for a tidy sum of money. When Marcel discovered what the Original Hybrid was, he'd insisted on being turned. Klaus had obliged, enjoying the spirit in the boy. "I soon regretted it. Marcel's spirit was amplified, as was his anger at the people who'd always treated him like scum. He grew hard to control. Finally, I earned his loyalty and he became an asset to me. We travelled together for almost a century but Marcel always longed to go back to his native city. It was a good time for my family. I'd found Kol and Rebekah in France and we'd managed to avoid Mikael for decades. We came back together.

"We built this city together: Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, Marcel and I. It grew prosperous. But during World War I, Mikael managed to track us all down. We had to flee. Kol refused and I daggered him. Then I left the city in Marcel's hands. I thought he'd died but apparently not," Klaus concluded.

"Thank you for telling me all that," Caroline said after awhile. She was watching him with eyes wide as Klaus was turned towards the city, remembering a time when his family was beside him and when he didn't have anything to fear. A lot had changed in the past century. Suddenly, Klaus turned to his watch. "

"Would you like me to get you some _beignets_?" Klaus offered. "They're selling them in the square." Caroline nodded and Klaus ordered, "Stay here."

Caroline's gaze was glued on her companion as he crossed the road and walked into Jackson Square. He was being so sweet to her. He'd always been sweet to her, come to that, even though until recently, she'd never seemed to reciprocate any of his feelings for her. Come to think of it, why was she so comfortable with him? He'd killed some of the most important people to her and yet all she wanted to do was be with him. Maybe it was because she'd always had a thing for bad boys, she thought. She remembered in junior year, how she'd been so eager to date Damon. Then again, she had been a different person back then.

Why did things have to be so complicated? Couldn't she just have a normal relationship with a normal guy? But _she _wasn't normal anymore either.

_But you don't kill people, _said the angel on one shoulder.

_But you _have_ killed people, _said the devil on the other.

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" said Klaus, handing her the sugary fried desert.

Caroline pressed a hand to her cheek, noticing her blush. "Nothing!" she chirped a little too quickly, taking a big bite of the beignet.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the couple returned from their trek across the French Quarter. As Klaus opened the door, he didn't expect Caroline to race passed him and then lock the door to her room. He wondered if he'd done something to upset, though she didn't seem to be annoyed on their way home. Why was he suddenly questioning every single thing he'd ever known about the female psychology?

He decided to just chill in the common room and avoid Caroline until she cooled off. He grabbed himself a glass a blood and sat down to watch the match on TV. It was about half an hour later when Caroline finally emerged from her room. "I'm going -" she began before cutting herself off. "What are you watching?"

"The football, love," he stated. "Soccer, to you Americans, I suppose. What were you saying?"

"Oh, I'm going out," Caroline announced. At this, Klaus pressed the power button on the remote and turned to look at Caroline. She was dressed a short, sleeveless, midnight blue dress. Her makeup was styled to make her features look bold and breathtaking while her hair was curled to form the perfect frame for her face. She was grinning as she watched him totally check her out.

Klaus, however, wasn't best pleased to see that Caroline was leaving in such an attractive frock to hang with the rabble you would find in clubs instead of spending her time with him. He jerked up from the sofa. "Why don't I join you?"

She began striding out of the room, her long legs emphasised by the dress and her tall black pumps. "Why don't you?" she called over one shoulder. Klaus wasn't so much a fool as to actually wait for a formal invitation. He staggered after Caroline, wondering how she managed to walk in the absurd shoe.

Caroline had absolutely no clue where she was intending to go. She'd imagined some kind of crowded dance club, preferably with a very well stocked-up bar. But, unfortunately, she wasn't that well acquainted with the geography of the French Quarter and, while some instinctively knew the closest place to get drunk and/or laid, she wasn't one of those people. She could hear some bouncy dance music down the street and she followed it until she arrived in a bright dance club, complete with a bar. Klaus was hot on her heels.

As soon as Caroline entered she headed straight towards one of the bartenders, he flashed her a sly smile. "Cosmopolitan," she ordered, without hesitating. Klaus sat next to her on one of the stools, ordering a beer on tap.

"So what's the plan, love?" he asked as she accepted her drink.

She took a sip and replied bluntly, "I'm gonna drink until somebody is hot enough to dance with me." She didn't even glance at her friend. She was busy surveying the room.

Klaus, however, slid off of the stool and offered her his hand. "Would you care to dance?" he asked. Caroline raised her eyebrows and was about to refuse, but she thought better of it and nodded. He took her drink, setting it carefully on the bar, and led her to middle of the dance floor. A fast, Latin song began and Klaus took her in her arms. She didn't want to admit it but, boy, could he dance! Their hips were pressed together and she could it every time his muscles moved to the music. He guided her perfectly. If she had been a lesser woman, she would have probably swooned or something.

Once the dance finished, Caroline kissed his cheek, murmuring a 'Thank you' in his ear. As she walked away, she felt dizzy. _Maybe it's just the alcohol talking_, she thought. But she couldn't deny that there was something about Klaus that she was deeply attracted to. It was more than just his charm and how sexy he was. She connected with him in a way that she hadn't with any of her other boyfriends. He was funny and honest and he seemed to really care about her. Maybe she should give him a chance?

As she came across this conclusion, it made so much sense to her. She realised that she really, really wanted to go for it. She went to go find Klaus. As soon as she spotted him, she planted her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss.

When she pulled away, Klaus looked stunned. At first, Caroline thought that she'd made a huge mistake but then Klaus said in her ear, "Are you sure?" Caroline nodded vigorously and Klaus took her hand, leading her into the street. They started dashing down the street, stopping every couple of strides to kiss. Finally, that reached Klaus' master bedroom and he pulled her gently into his bed...

**And thus, the Klaroline epic love has commenced!  
Please tell me what you thought in the reviews and favourite and follow!**

**Brianne**


	13. Invaded

**_Chapter 13: Invaded_**

**Sending virtual hugs to the reviewers: ****jvsalzar****, SingLikeThere'sNobodyListening, ****KolsGal88, ****MyloveforKlaroline, ****jessnicole, ****Klaroline-teenwolf, ****klarolinefictionlover, ****firstgreenisgold, ****EtherealDemon**

When Caroline opened her lids the next morning, she smiled upon seeing the sun of the bright summer day. She stretched luxuriously, finally settling her arms along the sides of her naked thighs. Then she realised that she was alone in bed. She jumped up and surveyed the room, concluding that she was in fact alone. Quickly, she pulled on some clothes and padded out of Klaus' bedroom.

She found Klaus in his studio, sitting in a chair and sketching. He looked up at her as she approached. "Good morning, love," he said. "How did you sleep?'

Caroline was in no mood to play games. "I don't recall doing much sleeping," she said bluntly, throwing in a coy smile. Klaus seemed slightly abashed, but not nearly as much as when she threw her arms around his chair and tried to get a better look at his sketchpad. Klaus, afraid to do anything which might upset his girlfriend (is that what she was now?), eventually shifted so that Caroline could see his drawings. She gasped. They were all of her: there she was, laughing and crying and smiling up at him. He'd made her seem radiant, like a goddess. Caroline flung her arms around his neck and kissed him.

They sat there, making out until Caroline breathed, "I want you to paint us."

Klaus contemplated her for a couple of moments, pondering what she was asking of him. He was touched somehow, but, as a rule, he never inserted himself into his art, ever. He shook his head.

Annoyed, Caroline tried to get out of his lap but Klaus had his arms around her waist and there was no way he was letting go. Instead, Caroline looked him straight in the eye and said, "Please, Klaus! This is one of the happiest moments of my life and I want to capture it."

How could he refuse her when she asked him like that? "Fine," he relented. She grinned. "Just let me take a shower first." Unwillingly, Caroline detached herself from Klaus' grip and he walked into the en suite bathroom.

When he returned twenty minutes later, Caroline was gone.

* * *

Caroline checked over her shoulder one more time as she left the French Quarter of New Orleans. She had stuck to the edge of the river because it was probably to easiest way to not get lost among the throngs of natives and tourists alike. She'd been walking quickly for the past quarter of an hour, not wanting to attract attention by using vampire speed. Still, she was scared that she would be discovered by one of Marcel's men or that Klaus himself would come after him. Both of these outcomes would probably lead to spilt blood. Finally she arrived at a small cafe in the Garden District. Her gaze flew directly to the dark-haired man in a booth by the windows. Caroline sat across from him, saying, "Do you remember last summer when we kept coming to the Grill and Matt would make Jeremy wait on us because he thought we were dating?" She smiled at him but a small part of her knew that it was wrong to be meeting her ex in secret like this.

"Of course I do," Tyler laughed. Then his gaze became intense, his eyes glistening like they did went he turned into a wolf. "You didn't have any problem avoiding the fact that I was in love with you. And now you're avoiding everything I know you want to ask me."

"Fine," Caroline said as she straightened and asked, "What are you doing here, Ty?"

"I'm here because I want to be with you," Tyler explained. His voice was steady, as if he'd been rehearsing this for days. "I made a mistake in breaking up with you. I was upset and I didn't think."

Caroline shook her head, trying to ignore the opposing thoughts floating around in her head. "You shouldn't have come here," she reasoned. "It's not safe for werewolves, especially hybrids."

"That doesn't matter. I can't leave knowing that I hurt you," he cried. Caroline shushed him quickly and he continued. "I love you, Caroline."

Caroline took a drink of water and sighed. She knew she had to come clean to Tyler but the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. "Tyler," she murmured, "It's over. You've got to leave." Quickly, she got up and turned to go.

"Why?" Tyler shouted after her. "What changed?"

Caroline took a deep breath and turned back. "I'll always love you. But I don't think I'm _in love_ with you anymore. I'm sorry but I've moved on." She left ignoring Tyler's protests. She could feel tears spilling from her eyes as she ended her relationship with her first love.

* * *

If you were to say that Caroline's disappearance had terrified Klaus, it would have been an underestimation. He rifled desperately through all of his drawers, his clothes flying everywhere. Finally, he found the white oak stake between piles of shirts. He sighed in relief: Caroline had manipulated and betrayed him. But then his thoughts flew to fear for Caroline. Where was she? Why hadn't he heard anything when she'd left? He'd decided to go look for her in the French Quarter when he ran into Elijah.

Taking in the room which Klaus had torn asunder, Elijah asked, "What happened, Niklaus?"

Klaus looked up into his brother's face. Elijah could, just for a moment, see desperation in his eyes, the kind which appears when you're feeling particularly helpless. Then Klaus blinked and suddenly his gaze was expressionless, as if forced to pull himself together under his scrutiny. "Nothing," he grunted. He held up the stake. "I just thought I'd misplaced this."

Elijah could tell that there was more Klaus wasn't sharing with him, probably of some kind of personal nature which Klaus deemed weakening in a way. "Brother-" Elijah began, but he was interrupted by the creak of the front door. Caroline walked in as if she were a teenager sneaking in late after a kegger. He raised an eyebrow, his mind finally touching on what had made Klaus act in such a way. He excused himself and left Klaus and Caroline alone.

Caroline automatically smiled, trying to pretend that she hadn't snuck out at all. But in front of Klaus' impassive face, she was speechless.

"I can smell him on you," he murmured almost threateningly. He could feel Caroline stop breathing and her heart slowing down its pace.

"Klaus, it's not like that," Caroline protested.

"Then what is it like?!" Klaus shouted.

She could see the hurt in his eyes and it pained her. This was the way Tyler had acted just a couple of days ago. How could two men she cared about so much hate each other enough to react this way just at the other's name? In another life, they would have been best friends. She tried reaching for Klaus but he turned away. "Let me explain," she said. She took Klaus' silence as an 'ok' to go ahead. "Tyler texted me this morning while you were in the shower. It was the first time we communicated since we broke up. He said he was in New Orleans and that we needed to talk. I freaked out and left because I knew it wasn't safe for him here and I wanted to do everything I could to get him out of town. We met outside the French Quarter in the Garden District. He apologised for the other night and I told him that we were over and to leave New Orleans ASAP. Then I came straight back."

Slowly, Klaus made eye contact with her. He seemed slightly smug and, more importantly, she thought she might have regained his trust. He said, "Is that all that happened?"

"_Yes,"_ she said emphatically. She straightened and switched to a more serious tone. "I want to try and make this relationship work and for that we've got to be able to trust each other, ok?"

"Do you really mean that?" He paused only long enough to allow her to nod slowly. "And we're dating now?" he asked, his dimples finally appearing.

"Only if you want to," Caroline answered quickly. Some boys didn't like the idea of going steady. They were fine with the sex and could even live with the monogamy, but let's just say romance is a rare thing in a teenage boy. She'd been lucky so far: Matt was the embodiment of chivalry and Tyler was very fond of the grand romantic gesture. And, while Klaus was much more than some of the drunken idiots at Mystic Falls High, she had trouble imagining him watching rom-coms and cooking her dinner. Then again, she could see him taking her out to a romantic restaurant and then jetting off to Paris or Rome...

Caroline snapped out of her daydream as Klaus replied,"Of course I want to, love."

She thought, for a moment that he was about to kiss her but instead he dropped his eyes, taken aback by his own passion. She couldn't believe KLAUS was abashed. It was to cute to pass up. Caroline leaned in and kissed him. He placed his hands on her waist, pressing her down onto the couch. His mouth moved away from her lips as he trailed kissed along her collarbone and onto her shoulder. Her fingers immersed themselves in his beautiful blond hair and she let out a small gasp.

They remained entangled in each other for another ten minutes before Klaus finally pulled away. "I want to take you out tonight for dinner," he announced. "There's a wonderful little bistro on the other bank."

After that make-out session, Caroline might have agreed to anything less than murder. "OK," she said, trying (and failing) to not sound too hasty. "Just let me get ready."

"Take all the time you need, sweetheart," Klaus encouraged sincerely.

It turns out that he regretted his words as it took her half an hour to change into her drop-waist '20s -inspired dress and heels, then do her hair so that it was pinned at the nape of her neck and finally apply hints of makeup. Don't get him wrong, she looked gorgeous and he told her so several times but did they have to get to the restaurant at 9 in the evening?

To make it worse, her phone rang right when he'd pulled out the chair for her to sit in. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I have to get this. I'll be right back."

Klaus watched her as she headed to the corridor next to the restrooms. At first he assumed it was her mother or maybe one of her friends but then he saw that scared creased shadow her face. It looked as if she was a step away from crying. Something had gone very wrong.

The second Caroline returned to the table, Klaus began to pepper her with questions. All of which she ignored. "I've got to go, Klaus. I'm so, so sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise." She kissed his cheek and then disappeared from the restaurant. All Klaus wanted to do was go outside and comfort her but by he time he left, she was already gone.

* * *

It would be an understatement to say the Caroline Forbes did a double take when she saw Tyler's name appear on her phone's screen. She muttered a "Seriously!?" under her breath. Was it necessary for Tyler to call during her first date with Klaus? She thought about ignoring him but decided that she needed to know if he'd gotten home safely and excused herself.

"Tyler?" she said into the phone as she picked up the call.

There was a chuckle on the other end. "Sorry to disappoint you, darlin'," Marcel laughed.

Caroline's heart dropped. "Why do you have Tyler's phone?"

"Let's just say that your friend had a run in with a few of my daylight walkers..." Caroline gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth in shock and creasing her eyebrows in worry. Marcel must have heard her because he continued, "Don't worry, he's safe. He bit one of my friends and the only reason he's alive right now is because I need a vial of Klaus' blood. That's where you come in."

Caroline could feel her self-control begin to slip away as her body went into panic mode. A mix of sweat and tears slipped down her cheeks. "Wait where you are," she said to Marcel. "I'll be there soon." As soon as she'd hung up the phone, she rushed back to her table, grabbing her handbag and saying, "I've got to go, Klaus. I'm so, so sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

She didn't wait for a reply before she rushed out into the streets, running as fast as she could in pumps without attracting human attention. Her mind was racing. She was still trying to process that Tyler was Marcel's hostage. Anger flooded through her at Marcel, but also at Tyler for being stupid enough to come to New Orleans. Above all, her guilt weighed her down. It was for her that Tyler had sought New Orleans and it was because of her that Klaus was now involved in this whole mess. Boy, could she choose men! The river ran along side her, marking how slow her progression towards Marcel's building. Finally she arrived in front of the 19th century townhouse. She'd barely closed the front gates when Marcel appeared before her.

"Do you have my cure?" he demanded.

Caroline had to admit she was slightly spooked to be in Marcel's territory. However, she soon realized she was in hardly any danger at all. Marcel may talk a big game but Caroline was his only chance to get the cure. She hid her fear with a coy smile and replied, "Hello to you, too. You know, you and Klaus are two peas in a pod. Both as unchivalrous as each other." Slyly, she slipped her arms out of her jacket, making herself comfortable in one of the courtyard seats.

"I apologize. Hello, Caroline, how are you?" he obliged before his face turned serious once again. "Where is that blood I need?"

She bit her lip intentionally hard before saying, "I don't actually have it." She knew she had about two seconds flat before Marcel flew into a rage. "I'm here to make a deal with you."

Instead of flying off the handle, Marcel burst into laughter. "I'm listening."

Unfortunately for Caroline, she hadn't really thought past this point. "What do you want?"

"I told you, I need the Original Hybrid's blood."

He sounded like a broken record. "I can't get you that," she said.

"Again, you underestimate yourself."

She realized that Marcel probably didn't have any idea who Tyler was and his relationship to Klaus. She explained, "Klaus will never help Tyler. He's a traitor to him."

Caroline watched as Marcel took in this morsel of information. He seemed slightly perturbed at first but he didn't miss a beat. "Fine. If you can't get Klaus' blood, bring his corpse instead. His life for Tyler's."

Her mouth hung wide open. "No!" she exclaimed, without even hesitating. However much she'd wanted him dead before, she was now horrified at the idea of outliving him, much less actually murdering him in cold blood, just for the sake of Tyler.

"Well, then I suppose I'll just have to kill your friend," Marcel said. "You have two hours." Before Caroline could ask him to please reconsider one last time, Marcel was gone.

After her meeting with Marcel, Caroline had tried everything possible to try and avoid having to ask Klaus to help Tyler. Klaus had proved countless times that his feud with Tyler was more important than whatever approval she could bestow on him and she was afraid that even bringing it up might prove an insurmountable hiccup in their relationship. So she'd called everyone she could think of who may be in possession of a small portion of Klaus' blood: Stefan, Damon, Matt (who could talk to Rebekah for her), even her mom. Defeated, she returned home only to find Klaus sitting on the couch, drinking blood and staring at the door.

"Klaus," she began apprehensively, "I have to ask you a favor..."

**Will Klaus come through? Find out next week...**

**Please review, follow and favourite. I also need everybody to vote on my poll on what I should name Hayley's baby. I also really would like to get a beta, so if anybody's interested, please PM me.**

**Brianne**


	14. Blame, Guilt and Murder

_**Chapter 14: Blame, Guilt and Murder**_

**Again, I must proclaim my devotion and love to the reviewers: klarolinefictionlover, MyloveforKlaroline, fanfictionfanatic18, CatValentinesCupcakes, and EtherealDemon.**

**Also, I have to thank my amazing new Beta klarolinefictionlover for all her help and support.**

"Why should I?" shouted Klaus once Caroline had asked him to give Marcel a vial of his blood so that Tyler could go free.

"Because Tyler is a good man. He doesn't deserve to die like that."

"So?"

"And because, without him, we wouldn't be together right now."

"Oh?"

"Yes. We first met each other when you turned him into a hybrid. We had our first conversation after you ordered him to bite me-"

"Why do you care so much about him?"

"Because I love him," Caroline exclaimed. Klaus raised his eyebrows at her in an almost threatening way. She crossed her arms, offended. "No, not like that, you asshole, but because he's my friend and he's the first guy I ever truly loved. You know I'd do just about anything for any of my friends. And what would it say about me if I was with someone who refused to save my friend?"

After her confession, she expected Klaus to come straight to her side but he remained unmoved. "I don't think you understand what he did to me. He stabbed me in the back without a second thought," Klaus pointed out. "He plotted to _kill me!"_

Caroline scoffed. "That's bullshit and you know it. I plotted to kill you right by his side." Klaus lowered his head slightly, as if he was embarrassed. Sensing weakness, Caroline went for the kill. "Please, Klaus, I'm asking you to save Tyler's life for my sake. Please!"

Finally, for his love's sake, he nodded and stalked out of the apartment.

* * *

When Klaus and Caroline arrived at Marcel's home, night had already fallen over New Orleans. The lamps lining the streets cast shadows which made Caroline nervous. She felt as if death were following them through the French Quarter. Entering the cast iron gates of the courtyard was like walking through a graveyard on Halloween.

"Do you have what I asked for, Caroline," said Marcel in his deep baritone.

"Good evening, Marcel," said Klaus. He stepped in front of Caroline, which she thought was kind of sweet. "I think you have one of my hybrids." His teeth glittered in the moonlight.

Marcel wasn't about to cower in front of Klaus. He squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest. "I believe you have the cure to a werewolf bite."

With a moment of hesitation, Klaus bit his own wrist; pouring the dark red blood into a vial he was handed. He didn't give it back to Marcel, though. "My hybrid," he repeated firmly.

Marcel signaled one of his vampires to go fetch Tyler. As they waited, Marcel commented, "You know, I was starting to think you might not come through. Miss Caroline here certainly didn't think so. But she's always been more _convincing_ than she gives herself credit for."

Caroline didn't miss the threatening connotations of Marcel's words. This wasn't about curing a friend to him- it was about power, about proving he could force Klaus to do anything that he pleased. She watched her boyfriend warily, half expecting him to ruin everything by crushing the small vial. His jaw tightened but he remained perfectly still.

Finally, Marcel's henchman returned, followed thankfully by Tyler. She took a deep breath of relief, realizing that she'd been holding her breath. Tyler was safe and, though a bit beaten up, seemed totally alright. Begrudgingly, the vial changed. Taking Caroline's hand, Klaus walked away from Marcel, Tyler striding after Klaus.

The next moments would remain with Caroline forever as she turned around to check on Tyler only to see Marcel tear his heart out.

As she watched Tyler's body crumple and fall to the floor, Caroline let out a piercing scream that ripped through the quiet summer night. She tried to gulp down the sobs that were building in her chest. Before she could tackle Marcel like she desperately wanted to, Klaus rushed up towards Marcel. "We had a deal!" he barked. That was it: the last of his hybrids was gone.

Marcel's face displayed no emotion. Clearly and loudly, he declared, "Werewolves are not tolerated here." He was speaking to a crowd that had assembled around the dead body but his next words were for Klaus' ears only. "I'd suggest that you leave before you and your friend attract attention and force me to do something I'd regret."

That was the last straw. Threatening Caroline was like threatening his own life if he wasn't immortal. He was close enough to Marcel that it only took a split second for Klaus to lodge his hand into his chest and around his pumping heart. His eyes flickered up to Marcel's but as he followed his line of vision, he saw that Marcel was staring intently at Caroline, who was unaware that five of his vampires had surrounded her.

With a grunt, Klaus released the heart. He turned away, staring for a moment at Caroline, who was weeping over the corpse. Finally, he took her by the arm, forced her to her feet and pulled her home. He would have his revenge but now wasn't the time. If Caroline were killed because of him, he would never be able to forgive himself.

* * *

As soon as Caroline got home, she went to her room so that she could make the necessary calls. Klaus found her staring at her phone when he came to check on her. "What's wrong?" he asked, immediately cursing himself for it. The thing he said after her ex-boyfriend's death was 'What's wrong?'?

Caroline laughed without mirth.

"I mean, what's wrong with your phone?" he corrected himself.

"Nothing," Caroline stated. "I was just thinking about how, even though a lot of Tyler's family is dead, I don't know how I'm going to tell people that Tyler's dead."

Klaus offered, "I could, if you want,"

"I don't think my friends would react well to hearing about Tyler from the Original Hybrid."

"I could at least call Rebekah to ask her to tell Matt," Klaus pointed out. "Who else do you need to tell?"

"Well, Jeremy, for one. They were kind of close. And Hayley can't hear about it from you."

"Hear about what?" Klaus turned around to see Hayley standing in the doorway. To Klaus, she said, "Yeah, hi, you forgot about the OB/GYN appointment. I had Elijah drive me back here." Then she rounded on Caroline and repeated, "Hear about what?"

Klaus could have sworn he saw Caroline cave into herself, anticipating the confession she would have to make. Before she could, Klaus stated, "Tyler's dead."

The ordinarily brash and brusque look on Hayley's face crumpled. Her eyebrows were doing an odd kind of dance, flicking from one emotion to another. She murmured, "What?"'

"Tyler's dead," Klaus repeated. He just wanted Hayley to leave, to turn around and disappear so that he could focus on Caroline but instead she flung himself across the room and began to hit him with both her fists, shouting, "Murderer! You sorry excuse for a living being! You couldn't have left him alone after what you did to his mom, after me, after this baby, after Caroline-"

"It wasn't him," said Caroline after finally pulling Hayley off of her boyfriend.

Hayley quickly shook off Caroline and turned to face the girl." You expect me to believe that this monster, who's said on multiple occasions that he intended to kill Tyler, is innocent?" Hayley was clearly incredibly distraught, taking huge gulps of air, her chest heaving and tears pouring down her cheeks.

Caroline tried very hard to get Hayley to listen to her before resorting to grabbing her again. "Do you think that if he'd done it, I'd still be here? I was there. It wasn't him. It was Marcel!" Caroline spat the name.

"What?" exclaimed Hayley again, puzzled. She'd calmed down enough to take Klaus' place on Caroline's bed and begin cupping her bulging stomach.

As the blond vampire began telling the story of Tyler's death, Klaus slipped out. He wasn't exactly the ideal person to commemorate the hybrid's life with. No sooner had he closed the door behind him did he run into Elijah.

"Niklaus, could you explain to me what the corpse of Tyler Lockwood is doing in the closet?"

Klaus gritted his teeth as he explained in one word: "Marcel." Seeing the bemused look on his brother's face, he revised his statement. "He was killed by Marcel. That man is beginning to believe that he can get away with anything. We need to deal with him sooner rather than later."

Elijah contemplated him for a moment and then enquired, "I suppose Caroline is rather upset about losing someone so close to her." Reluctantly, Klaus nodded. "Take care of her before you worry about reaping blood over the city." As he blinked, the look of sentimentality which had come over him disappeared. "I'll be returning to Italy tomorrow."

"Again?" said Klaus. "Their wine must have gotten better since I was last there." He chuckled slightly at his own joke but Elijah remained serious.

"It's not the wine, Klaus." Steeling himself for his brother's rage, Elijah explained, "The night of Miss Forbes' high school graduation, Katerina Petrova was forced to take the cure to vampirism. When I said I'd gotten the doppelganger's blood from Elena Gilbert, I lied. I took some of Katerina's blood and, in return, I helped her find a home in Tuscany."

Klaus stared daggers at his brother. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't follow you there to snap her neck and dagger you for good measure."

"I love her, Niklaus," said Elijah steadily. "If you care about me at all, you will let her live out her life peacefully."

A few months ago, these words would have meant nothing to him. He'd searched for Katherine for centuries because she'd made him wait out half a millennium until his true nature could be unleashed. But now his brother's words left him powerless. He now knew what it was to love and he knew that, were Caroline in Katherine's place, he'd protect and watch over her for the remainder of her human life - that is, if he was stupid enough to trap her in this human form. "For all that it's worth; you're torturing yourself not turning her back into vampire."

Elijah ignored him and said, "Goodnight!" before striding into his bedroom and shutting the door loudly.

Then Klaus was alone. He couldn't help but listen in on Hayley and Caroline's conversation. It was either that or fight away murderous inclinations, mostly towards Marcel. Once Caroline explained that Tyler had been used to obtain Klaus' blood and had been killed anyway, she told her about how she'd found him in Delaware and how he'd broken up with her when he'd found out about her and Klaus being involved.

Hayley surprised Klaus by, instead of asking about the extent of their relationship, asking if Tyler had known about the baby.

Caroline replied that no, she hadn't told him.

Hayley said, "Good. I know I disappointed him but at least he didn't know at what extent. You know, I've really screwed up lately."

Caroline began to protest but Hayley must have stopped her because she continued. "I wanted to find my family so much that I sacrificed my other family: my pack. I helped Katherine Pierce! I slept with _Klaus!"_

As Hayley began to choke on her words, buried as they were with sobs. Caroline tried to comfort her, saying quietly, "I've done both those things too. Let me get you some tea and we can talk about it."

Klaus was flattered that Caroline would tell Hayley about their relationship. It probably made it easier to deal with Tyler's death to help Hayley. As Klaus heard her footsteps coming towards the door, he rushed to his own bed to avoid her knowing about his eavesdropping. As he sat on the large four poster bed, he remembered his promise to Caroline to call his sister. Though he was tired, he picked up his phone and dialed Rebekah's number. It rang almost four times before she finally picked up.

"Hey, Nik!" she said cheerily. In the background, he could hear vibrant Latin music and a man's voice, probably Matt's.

He cleared his throat. "Rebekah," he began, "I have some bad news for Matt: Tyler Lockwood was killed."

"Pardon?"

"Marcel killed Matt's friend Tyler a couple of hours ago," he repeated slowly.

Rebekah actually sounded concerned as she said, "I'll tell him. Goodbye!" She hung before he could tell her that there was most likely going to be a funeral in a few days. He felt kind of bad for making his sister the bearer of bad news but at least Caroline wouldn't be forced to tell Matt personally.

He made himself comfortable under the covers and picked up a sketch pad to take his mind off the recent tragedy. A few minutes later, he looked up to see Caroline padding towards him in her sweatpants and tank top. "I didn't want to be alone," she said softly. Nodding, he patted the space next to him and scooched so that she could have half of the bed. She watched a he continued to draw.

A little while later, she murmured, "I'm sorry our date got so messed up."

Klaus put his pad down and enveloped her in a hug. Looking into her bright blue eyes, which seemed now so devoid of their ordinary sparkle, he told her, "You can't blame yourself for this."

"But I do blame myself!" Caroline exclaimed. "I keep thinking how I should've stayed with him and made sure that he left safely. I should've never told him where I was. And you, you could have left him alone, given him permission to return to Mystic Falls..."

"So it's my fault?!"

"No!" Caroline said immediately. "That's not what I meant. It's just; I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!" They fell asleep, their arms around each other, Caroline crying for the loss of her first love...

**OMG, I'm so sorry for the amount of Forwood in this chapter. At least now, he's gone for good.**

**Next chapter: Caroline returns home with Klaus for the funeral and to share some news with her friends...**

**There are only three chapters left so be sure to vote on the poll for Klaus's baby daughter's name.**

**Love you all,**

**Brianne**


	15. Light Will Guide You Home

_**Chapter 15: Light Will Guide You Home**_

**Thanks, reviewers, for all your kind words: Amy, denielapple, fanfictionfanatic18, MyloveforKlaroline, kool. smiles. are. kool , and jessnicole!**

The next morning, Klaus woke as Caroline slipped out of bed. The sun was already shining outside but it was low, so he could tell that it couldn't be past 6am. He watched, pretending to be asleep, as Caroline changed into some comfortable jeans and a top and began packing her pink plastic suitcase. When she headed to the kitchen, he groaned and tossed the covers off, following Caroline's example. She came back for her suitcase a bit later and jumped when she saw him awake packing his own case.

"I didn't realise you were up already," she murmured, intensely aware of the other occupants of the apartment.

He beamed his movie star smile at her and said, "I wasn't going to let you go by yourself, sweetheart." Was it just him, or did she look disappointed? "Unless... is that not what you want?"

Caroline seemed to be nodding and shaking her head at the same, her curls trembling around her face as spoke, "No, I do. It's just that nobody at home knows about us being a couple yet and, with everything that's already happened, it might not be the best time to bring it up."

As selfish as it might seem to think, Klaus was completely over Tyler's death and he couldn't wait for Caroline to get over it too. Of course he wanted her to stop being so sad but, on top of that, he didn't like that another man took precedence over him in Caroline's agenda, hindering him from taking full advantage of having Caroline as his girlfriend. He said, "We don't have to tell anyone. I promise that I will be the soul of discretion. I just want to be able to support you right now."

"Okay," she agreed at last, cupping his face and bringing his lips to hers.

* * *

That afternoon, Caroline was sitting next to Klaus by the baggage claim at Richmond International Airport flipping through her emails on her shiny new Blackberry. As far as he could tell, she was trying to select a tombstone at the same time as she was arguing with Elena over IM about how she hadn't bothered to drop a line over Tyler's passing. Her face was red, though Klaus couldn't tell whether it was from exhaustion, anger or grief. He tried very hard to keep his eyes on the baggage carousel because every time he looked at her, he want to torment and torture Marcel for eons for doing that to her. I simple death would be too kind.

Once they'd gotten their bags, they went to the arrivals lobby where Matt and Rebekah were already waiting for them, having gotten in from Guatemala early that morning. Matt rushed to Caroline's side, wrapping her in a one-armed hug. He looked even more grief-stricken than she did. "Hey," he said softly. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," Caroline said, not really meaning it but not wanting to add onto his burden. "How was your trip?"

Rebekah jumped in, not liking to be excluded from the conversation. "Well, as good as a flight can be when it's booked at midnight and in coach." Matt shoved her playfully. Caroline thought he looked great. Despite the bags, his eyes seemed animated and he'd gotten a really nice tan. Rebekah wasn't stopping there, though. "I didn't expect to see you here, Nik."

Matt noticed Klaus for the first and crossed his arms over his chest. Of course, Matt didn't like him, even more so now that Caroline, his ex and the ex of his best friend, did. Finally, he held his hand out for a handshake. Klaus shook it.

Bored by the awkward meeting, Rebekah led the others to Matt's car. They drove in silence until they arrived in front of the Mikaelson Mansion. Rebekah slipped out first, leaving Matt with a sweet kiss on the cheek. She waited for Klaus who, rather unwillingly let go of Caroline's hand. He didn't get out, however, until Caroline told him, "You know my mom isn't going to let you stay over, right?"

They left the two siblings as Matt drove Caroline to her house. Liz was already waiting outside as Caroline rushed towards her, mother's arms finding daughter's. "Honey," Liz said, "I'm so sorry about Tyler but I'm happy that you're back."

"I am too," replied Caroline into her mother's hair. Arms around each other, the two headed inside.

* * *

_Earth to earth_

_Ashes to ashes_

_Dust to dust_

As the minister finished the service, with tears in their eyes, Caroline and the small group of mourners who'd attended the ceremony threw their clutches of dirt onto Tyler Lockwood's closed casket. Caroline thought about how different this funeral was to Bonnie's less than a fortnight ago. Hers had been so full of life, a celebration of the witch's time on earth but this one felt like all time had stopped and would never begin again. Her heart felt too heavy to carry and just when she thought she would drop from exhaustion, Hayley, who'd arrived just a few hours ago, embraced her in a hug. They both cried together under the hot summer sunshine.

* * *

Caroline hadn't had time to organise a proper reception but fortunately, Elena had stepped up to host a small party at the Salvatore house. The tables weren't very full, only bearing a few store-bought baked goods, some chips and a few of Damon's cheaper bottles of vintage wine. Very few people were there: Hayley, a couple of Tyler's cousins on his mom's side and only the shadow of the old Mystic Falls gang - Caroline, Matt, Jeremy, Elena and Damon where Jenna, Alaric, Bonnie and now Tyler had once stood. But being with other people who'd known and loved Tyler was better than sitting at home feeling depressed.

But she stayed because she wanted to make sure that her friends felt needed. If she left, it would feel to Elena as if she were failing in her job of supporting her best friend, which she admittedly had been for the past few months. They traded anecdotes on Tyler from when they were kids. She'd stayed fairly quiet until the subject of Klaus' hybrids was brought.

"He was a natural born leader," she testified, her voice shaking with grief. "You trusted him. I could trust him more than anyone. I told him so, and to never forget because I always thought he would live longer than I would." She choked on her own voice. Elena came to sit by her and tried to put her hand on her shoulder but Caroline shook her off. "No!" she shouted with more ferocity than maybe even she expected. "We don't deserve to mourn Tyler. We've been forsaking him completely since he left months ago. You all abandoned him. This is a joke." She leapt onto her feet and headed for the doorway.

"Says the girl who's living with the man who tried to kill him," said Damon's voice behind her.

"Oh, I'm doing a lot more than just living with him," spat Caroline. It had slipped out. In her rage, she'd revealed the secret she'd come here swearing would never come out. There were collective expressions of shock and horror from the assembled party. She felt slightly intimidated but assertively she said, "I know that Klaus has done some really horrible things but I genuinely think that he's changed-"

"You think that Klaus, the guy who's been terrorising the planet for centuries, has changed?" said Damon sarcastically. "Why would he change? Because he's in love with you?" he sneered. "Come on, Blondie!"

"Well he might have terrorised the planet but at least he didn't rape me," she said lowly.

"Caroline, that's not fair-" Elena started before Caroline cut her off.

"No! You guys don't get to judge me because, when it comes down to it, we're all just as bad as him. Only you pretend you're better." Without another word, she stalked out of the room. She never wanted to come back to this town again.

As soon as she was outside, she began to run with vampire speed through the forest. The fury which boiled inside her veins energized her like a adrenaline. She was seeing red. How dare her friends judge her like that. They were supposed to be her second family so why didn't they understand her connection with Klaus? Why did they try to stop her? They were hiding behind this angelic facade when all she could see when she looked at them was the hurt they'd caused others.

It was Damon who troubled her the most but she didn't quite understand why. It was obvious that he wouldn't be happy for her because, for one, he didn't care about her, and also because Klaus had wanted to tried Elena. But Caroline's relationship with Klaus felt so similar to hers with Damon years ago and yet was everything it hadn't been. Did that make sense? Human Caroline had been drawn to Damon because of the danger that he represented but also because she felt freer being let out from under the magnifying glass of high school and under her mother's strict gaze. She'd fallen for Klaus because of the humanity behind the danger and, like Damon, because he represented a type of freedom that she'd never known before. She should have known Damon didn't care enough to understand or to empathize. Did it matter that he'd done the same thing with Katherine? Maybe that was why he couldn't believe that Klaus loved her.

She wasn't surprised by Elena. She wasn't even mad. Klaus had done horrible things to her and to her family. She could't imagine ever being able to forgive someone like that.

Caroline was slightly hurt by Matt. He should have stood up for her. After everything that had doubtless happened between him and Rebekah, he hadn't done anything to help. Still, she got the impression that things were infinitely less serious with Rebekah than her and Klaus. It still hurt though.

When she arrived at the Mikaelson Mansion, she was comforted to find Klaus's car parked in the front. She slipped through the front door and within a second, Klaus' arms were wrapped around her like a blanket. All her emotions from earlier spilled forward and he let her cry in his arms for awhile. Eventually, she spoke, "Can we go now? Please? I don't think I can be in Mystic Falls right now."

Klaus nodded. "Of course. We'll leave right now if that's what you want," he promised. Almost subconsciously, he took her right hand in his and kissed it softly, like a butterfly.

"I told them," she sighed. "I said that we were together. Damon got mad and said that you couldn't change, ever. Elena defended him. I don't know if I can come back to a place where my friends treat me like that but I definitely can't be around it now. Can we go someplace new, where I can forget?" She smiled slightly and suggested, "Rome, Paris? Tokyo?"

Klaus wanted more than anything to return that smile but he couldn't because he couldn't show her the world like he promised. "Sweetheart, I want to, I real want to. But there's the baby, and I can't leave things with Marcel the way they are."

Caroline couldn't help but look disappointed. A small part of her still felt as if she didn't quite know Klaus and she'd fantasizes about the perfect vacation in Europe, where she would envelope herself in art, culture and, of course, her boyfriend. But just the word 'baby' made her feel as though a little warm bundle was sleeping in her own womb. Just the word 'Marcel' made her thirst for revenge. Still curled in his chest, she stared into his eyes and said, "Okay. If that's what you feel is right then we'll stay in New Orleans and take down Marcel together."

A grin slipped onto Klaus' surprised face. Then he caught himself. "You don't have to do that, love."

"I want to. We can take New Orleans together." She kissed him on the cheek, hurrying off to pack her suitcase and say goodbye to her mom. Before she left, she said, "I love you." As Klaus watched her go, he felt as if he was on cloud nine. At least, he was until Rebekah entered the room. She had obviously been listening in.

"How long have you been there?" He exclaimed angrily.

"Long enough to hear Caroline commit herself to a relationship with you," Rebekah answered directly. "Why would you let her do such a thing? You know very well that it won't work?"

"Oh, yeah?" he challenge, realizing that he probably sounded like a whiny grammar school kid.

"She's too good for you and you're all wrong for her. Girls like Caroline Forbes don't go for the bad guy."

"I've changed, Rebekah," Klaus said.

His sister gave him a look like 'yeah, right,' complete with an eye roll. By this time, her brother had realized that she had been crying herself recently. It didn't take long to connect her behavior to the Mystic Falls quarterback. That made sense: Rebekah always got very righteous after she got her heart broken. This was when he realized he had been right, he had changed. He had witnessed a thousand years worth of his sister's heartbreak and he hadn't cared. Now, he realized he'd wanted her to be happy with Matt and was genuinely sad. "I'm sorry," he said.

"What about?" she asked coldly before slamming the door behind her.

**Thanks for reading! I can't believe there are only two chapters left! Make sure to vote for Klaus' baby's name on my poll on my profile and, as usual, please follow, favourite and review.**

**Brianne**


	16. It's In Their Hands Now

_**Chapter 16: It's In Their Hands Now**_

**Hugs and kisses go out to Amy (Guest), SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUniverse, jessnicole, sandiw1875, and Klaroline-teenwolf for their wonderful reviews.**

**Enjoy!**

A couple of days after Caroline, Rebekah and Klaus had returned to New Orleans, Klaus began to feel as if things were finally just about getting back to normal. Rebekah had stopped pining after Matt and draining every tourist that passed her door while Caroline had a new project: the Historical Society Gala. She'd interviewed with the New Orleans Historical Society weeks ago and Klaus assumed that they'd taken one look at her resumé and not only hired her on the spot but put her in charge of one of their most important events, which seemed totally reasonable to anyone who knew her. Unfortunately for him, that meant she was now gone for most of the day and, when she was home, she was always on her phone.

The downside was that the Historical Society's generous benefactor was none other than Marcel. The first time she'd run into him, she'd excused herself and had dashed home to cry. But other than that, Caroline appeared to be returning to her ordinary, bubbly and utterly fascinating self. More than that, she was actually enjoying herself, at least, that's what Klaus saw.

The dynamics in the apartment had, at first, been extremely awkward. Not only had Rebekah moved in but also Hayley, who was nervous about being home alone so into her pregnancy (she was in her third trimester). Neither of them had wanted to sleep in Elijah's room so they'd taken up the two guest rooms, 'forcing' Caroline to move in with Klaus. Both Hayley and Caroline had never gotten on great with Rebekah so breakfast was either silent or filled with snarky comments. To make matters worse, Hayley was pretty horny and when her eyes practically popped out of her skull when she'd seen Klaus shirtless, Caroline had stopped speaking to her.

Things had gotten better, though, when Hayley began to prepare the baby's nursery and Rebekah and Caroline couldn't help but pitch in. Now, Klaus would often wake up to an empty bed and the girls gossiping in the kitchen. This was both a blessing and a curse - he missed having Caroline all to himself.

All in all, things were going well with Caroline. Just last night, they'd celebrated their two week anniversary as a couple with dinner and a romantic film which Caroline had picked out. The only problem was the orientation packet for the University of Richmond sitting on the far corner of the kitchen counter...

* * *

Caroline opened her eyes just as the sun was thinking of rising on the day of the long-awaited Gala. She stared up at the ceiling, which Klaus had painted in the 19th century to look like the Northern Lights. She focused wholly on the event that would unfold that evening.

Eventually, she turned so that she could gaze directly at Klaus' closed eyelids. There wasn't a wrinkle on his face nor a frown line to harshen it. His short lashes caressed his cheek innocently. He looked like a little boy, so unperturbed by life's twists and turns. Caroline wondered how many others had ever seen him like this, as Nik instead of Klaus Mikaelson the Original. It was for his sake that she'd put on a brave face, a façade. It was a lie to spare him.

When she'd returned from MysticFalls, she felt as if the very city had turned against her, like she was an outsider in enemy territory. For awhile, it had been calming to be around humans. But that stopped when Marcel became part of it. He walked with little care and with much bravado, as if he hadn't killed hundreds of innocents: Tyler, Sophie, the other witches; he'd killed them all and he didn't even have the decency to be ashamed of himself. And when she met his eyes, she saw her own reflection in his irises and knew that if something didn't change, she would be just another name on his list of victims.

Every night, as she closed her eyes, she pictured her death at his hands: drained of blood, werewolf bite, torn off head, torn out heart. As the days wore on, it got worse. She imagined Klaus dying at her side, then Hayley and the baby, Elena, Stefan, even her mom. Each night, she tried to tell herself that she was being irrational, but the nightmares continued.

Something needed to change. And so she'd decided to kill herself, without endangering any lives but hers. She'd decided to do it tonight.

When the full force of the sun shone through the windows into their room, Caroline prepared herself for the day, slipping on a shirt and blouse and combing her hair out so it glittered in the meagre light. Finally, she slipped a simple but sharp wooden stake and a needle of vervain into her bag. She kissed Klaus on the forehead before slipping out of the door and into the street.

* * *

Caroline slid into her spaghetti-strapped blue silk dress that afternoon and waited patiently as Klaus did up his shirt buttons and began to zip the dress up. He stopped halfway up her back and kissed the bare, exposed skin at the nape of her neck. She moaned softly before swatting him away. He resumed his task and then turned her around to capture her lips with his. "I've missed you," he murmured between kisses.

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Have I really been that absent?"

He grinned. "No. But if I had my way, you'd be next to me all day, every day. I'm a very selfish man, Caroline."

"Your way sounds nice," she said wistfully. Then, coming back down to earth, she shooed him away so she could do her makeup and hair.

The day had gone well so far. Setting up the tables and chairs as well as her decorations had been simple thanks to all the charts she'd made. Also, Marcel hadn't been there all day so Caroline had easily managed to stash the vervain and stake, which she'd never have been able to carry in just her clutch. All was going smoothly but, still, she wasn't looking forward to that night.

When Caroline had firmly fixed all her hair in a low bun, the door opened to reveal Rebekah in a short magenta dress and dramatic eye makeup. "My brother's threatening to leave if you aren't ready yet."

Caroline hurried to apply her lip gloss and hurried out of the door. Klaus was standing by the kitchen's island looking extremely dapper in his black suit. She kissed his cheek, whispering conspiratorially into his ear, "I wouldn't be so slow if a certain someone hadn't distracted me."

Klaus chuckled before replying, "And who would that be?" The perfect gentleman, he offered her his arm and the three of them walked out into the city.

The venue of the Gala was a historic plantation on the north-eastern border of the French Quarter so it was a bit of a hike for most girls in high heels, even those with vampire powers. Caroline was just about to complain when she saw the twinkling lights of the Leroy Plantation. It looked magical with the lamps in every window and on every table and the ivy and vine on the front of the house. The normally bright green lawn was almost peach in colour thanks to the setting sun and it was adorned with men in classic tuxedos and ladies in cocktail dresses wearing glittering jewels. It looked stunning even to her, who'd designed the event. As Klaus murmured words of praise, she was greeted by the Chairman of the Historical Society. "Caroline!" Mrs. Weaver called, waving as she strode her way. "Caroline, dear, the house looks beautiful and the auction is sure to raise enough money to cover all of next year's expenses and more! I have to admit, I had my doubts when Adelaide told me she'd put someone so young in charge but you pulled it off without a hitch."

Caroline was positively glowing with delight. "Thank you, Mrs. Weaver!"

"No, thank you, dear-" Mrs. Weaver was cut off as Marcel joined their party. Caroline could feel Klaus tense beside her and she subconsciously clenched her jaw. Marcel must have noticed the animosity but he ignored it and smiled at Mrs. Weaver, who was totally unaware of the confrontation right in front of her. "Marcel, it's so nice to see you. You've met Caroline, I'm sure, but I think you don't know Mr. Mikaelson."

"On the contrary, ma'am," said Marcel, "We're old friends. Would you mind if I borrowed Caroline for a minute?" He held out his hand to Caroline but Klaus moved to block it. Caroline tried as best as possible to show him that it was okay and, rather unsteadily, she took the Marcel's hand.

It would be an understatement to say she was scared. She was petrified. It seemed as if her bones had turned to ice and the ground beneath her was engulfing her in fire. But this was the moment she'd been waiting for. She continued to walk in front of Marcel, leading him directly to the powder blue parlour in the centre of the house. Her eyes flew directly to the cabinet behind a small side table. As naturally as possible, she moved towards it, opening the doors to get the cognac stored there.

"Quite a stash, there!" laughed Marcel.

Caroline sounded annoyed as she said, "I needed something to get through to the totally incompetent staff."

"Would you mind if I had some, as well?"

She huffed loudly but, with her back turned to Marcel, she grinned, pouring another glass with a second bottle, though he couldn't see the switch. She carried both drinks to Marcel. This was the tricky bit, hoping that he would take the glass closest to himself instead of hers. When, after what seemed like centuries, she could hardly contain a breath of relief. She toasted, "To the Quarter!"

"The Quarter," Marcel repeated. At the same instant, they both took a swig.

It barely took him a second to start coughing loudly. Quickly, Caroline grabbed the vervain syringe from behind an embroidered pillow and forcefully shoved it into Marcel's gut before finding the stake hidden under the bookcase. Marcel was gasping for air, tears of exhaustion and frustration rolling down his cheeks and specks of sweat appeared on his forehead and arms. He was suffering badly. Caroline looked away, steeling herself the make the final blow.

"Why?" Marcel croaked from the ground where he had fallen.

Still turned away, she breathed, "You killed the witches and Tyler and countless of others. You've hurt Klaus and his family and you're a tyrant to the city you hold claim to. I need to end it." With resolution, she bent onto her knees and held up the stake above Marcel's heart.

"Darlin', if you end others' suffering, you'll just begin your own. You're a force for good, aren't you?" He said this as if he was accusing her, instead of begging for his life, though there was a great deal of fatigue in his voice. "Have you even killed before?"

Caroline's face began to break, thinking of those who'd lost her life at her hands. She nodded.

"Have you ever meant to kill anyone?" Marcel specified, eyes connecting with hers. Reluctantly, she shook her head. "This will destroy you!"

She was crying now, right over the body of the one she meant to kill. Every moment, she expected him to regain his strength and grab her. He didn't and it broke her heart. For a moment, she froze. Finally, Klaus' face slid into her brain. So good of a thought was this that Caroline hardly felt herself slide the dagger into Marcel.

* * *

Klaus had been staring at the door of the plantation house since Marcel and Caroline had disappeared inside. Rebekah appeared directly in front of him, holding a flute of champagne. "She'll be fine," she reassured him noncommittally. She was too busy checking out a bunch of boys gathered around a sculpture.

A moment later, she was proved right as Caroline stepped lithely down from the porch. A frown cluttered her face and her face was red, though the reason remained a mystery to him. When she saw them, she ironed on an uncomfortably smile. "Hi."

"How are you," Klaus asked earnestly.

Caroline waved away his concern. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, that's all. Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home."

"Of course, I'll get my jacket." Caroline was about to tell him that she'd be fine alone but she decided it was useless. Besides, she wanted him with her tonight.

After they'd both said 'Goodnight' to Rebekah and members of the committee, they left. They indulged themselves in vampire speed since they took the backstreets, which were almost completely empty at that time of night.

When they arrived home, Klaus took her hand and walked her to his studio, sitting her on a stool in front of the canvas. "May I paint you?" he asked.

She grinned. "Of course. But wait." Caroline got up and fetched the full-length mirror from the corner of the room. "I want to be painted with you."

So Klaus set to work, dipping his paintbrush into the yellows to try and capture the sunlight in her hair. His phone rang and he ignored it but when it rang again, he picked it up. "What?" he said gruffly.

It was Rebekah. There seemed to be quite a lot of noise in the background. "Klaus, Marcel is dead."

"What?"

"Marcel is dead. I think Caroline killed him."

The words sent shockwaves through Klaus' spine. He ended the call and turned to Caroline. "What did you do?!" he shouted, until he was mere inches from her face.

Caroline rose and answered him equally in defiance and fear, "I ended it."

His eyes widened and filled with an emotion she rarely saw in him: fright. His mind flooded with questions but one drew him more than the others. "Why?"

"He'd hurt too many people. He needed to be stopped."

"I was going to stop him. I can't protect you from this, love, you know that. Why would you risk your life to end his?" Before Caroline answered, he realized, "You wanted to avenge Tyler."

"That's not true!" Caroline exclaimed, indignation giving her the strength to defend her. "I was so scared, I was going out of my mind. After Tyler and the witches, I was afraid he might hurt you or Hayley or the baby or even me. And, more than Marcel, the city felt like it was against me.

Klaus scoffed. "You haven't helped your situation in New Orleans by killing Marcel," he told her.

"Maybe so. But I thought that, now that Marcel is gone, we could leave."

"I can't leave now that the entire Quarter is spinning out of control!" Warily, he took her hand and said, "Maybe it would be best if you left New Orleans. Go to college, live your life. Maybe it's not our time."

This seemed to startle Caroline. She began to cry, hug gasps of air flooding her lungs. She gripped his arm hard. "No, Klaus! Please! I need you!"

"It's for the best."

"No!" she repeated. "I'm sorry! I'll stay and take the consequences... I'm sorry!" Her eyes were bloodshot, desperate. Everything about her seemed wild and out of control, very un-Caroline.

Klaus understood then that it was his fault. He'd put her in this situation and, for both their sakes, he needed to get her out of it. His own heartbeat softened in decisiveness, as did hers. Then his eyes captured hers and his pupils shrank. "You will leave New Orleans and never come back. You will go and live your life free of the fear that haunts you here and free of me. In one hour, you will be out of the Quarter," he compelled. Finally, he broke eye contact. She blinked, slightly confused. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

She screamed in frustration. _He was gone!_

**I felt horrible writing that last part out but it seemed to make sense. Both Klaus and Caroline are incredibly scared at this point, Klaus for Caroline, and the Caroline of losing any more people. Caroline feels as if Klaus is the only person she has left and it's a real blow to have him break up with her like that.**

**Thank you for reading! Please review, follow and favourite. The final part of Stranger will be out next week!**

**Brianne**


	17. Fireworks

**_Chapter 17: Fireworks_**

**Once and for all, I would like to thank my reviewers for all your love and support throughout this process! _All of you_ guys are awesome! Here are chapter 16's reviewers: Amy (Guest), ZapharaKnight, Klaroline-teenwolf, caritobear, nikmik (Guest), Guest, Falcon100 and MyloveforKlaroline. **

**This is it: the final chapter. I had a lot of very angry reviewers last week so, guys, I hope this makes up for it:**

It was 2:35 am in New Orleans. Caroline should have been fast asleep but she couldn't close her eyes without seeing Klaus' face. Thankfully, she wasn't in the United States at all. She was in Paris and there it was past 9 in the morning. Lazily, Caroline got dressed and walked down to the small grocery store, where she headed straight for the frozen food aisle and scanned the freezers with an expert eye. She was looking for Ben & Jerry's but all that was available were nice ice cream brands like Carte D'Or, Magnum, and Häagen-Dazs._ Damn, does nobody in the City of Love ever go through a bad break-up and need to eat their feelings?_, Caroline thought.

Giving up, she grabbed a carton of the chocolatiest ice cream she could see and then found a bottle of white wine. She noticed the cashier giving her a sympathetic smile as Caroline paid with Euros she'd compelled from the bank.

When she got back to the apartment, she flopped on the couch with her groceries and chugged down half of the wine. It didn't help.

Everything had just gone so wrong that summer: Sophie, Bonnie, and Tyler had all passed away, she'd had to leave her mom, and she'd lost the one person who was left: Klaus. Worst of all, it was all her fault. She'd murdered, she must have disappointed him and for the past few days, she'd driven herself crazy as to how. If Caroline could undo all her mistakes with Klaus if only just to get a minute more with him and feel a little less like crap, she would wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, time travel didn't exist. She was in Paris, broken hearted and a college drop-out before she'd even begun. This was the 19th year of her life. How could she last through eternity?

* * *

Klaus was probably in even more agony than Caroline but he had little time to dwell on it. As he had predicted, the Quarter was chaotic after Marcel was found dead. Luckily, nobody had guessed that the killer was Klaus' sweet blond girlfriend who'd organized the Historical Society Gala and seemed just as scared of Marcel as anyone else. Slowly, New Orleans had warmed up to the idea of having the Original Hybrid as a leader, particularly as he'd begun campaigning with the city council for three times the amount of blood drives as before.

Another problem which occupied his mind was Hayley and his unborn daughter. Rebekah had left in mid-September for Elijah's villa in Italy, leaving Hayley and Klaus alone. They weren't exactly the perfect roommates. Hayley liked beer while Klaus like vintage scotch. She liked rap, he liked Mozart, Debussy and Frank Sinatra. Hayley ordered two cartons of pizza which she would consume over half a week and leave lying around and he tasted the best of New Orleans cuisine every night. Most of all, they were in total disagreement over their daughter's fate. They never began by talking about it but whatever the original subject, it always ended with shouts, tears and often death threats.

Hayley was terrified at this point. She was 19, pregnant and the father was Klaus. What kind of world would she be bringing the baby into? Klaus wanted her to become a werewolf and then turn her into a hybrid so she could live forever like him. Ultimately, Klaus was the one with most power and he would make the choice. There was little Hayley could do. But still she fought. Every day, she reminded him of the horrors of killing, of being unable to control yourself when it came to blood, of being sired to someone you loved, and of trying to break the sire bond. She tried to hint at the beauty of being alive and human and, yes, she brought up Caroline quite a bit even though she knew it was a sore spot. When December arrived, Klaus remained unmoved.

On December 12, 2011, the baby was born. They named her Delilah Aria Mikaelson- they'd both agreed after months of debate. It was an emotional day for both of them. After Hayley's water had broken, they'd rushed to the hospital where they'd waited until the contractions became frequent enough to be moved to a hospital room and finally got the pain medication Hayley had been yelling for. Then came the hours of patience as doctors and nurses filed through the room, checking on her but telling her that she wasn't ready yet. The last half was full of pushing, screaming, cursing and eventually, a new baby girl.

Hayley had gotten to hold her and nurse her before she passed out from exhaustion. Klaus was turned towards the windows, waiting to be guided to the nurse's station so that he could sign the necessary paperwork and leave. But the nurse offered him the baby and he couldn't think of suitable way to refuse. He looked down at her little face for the first time. She was kind of cute. She looked like Hayley with her nose and little mouth. But her eyes were his, though he knew that all babies' eyes were blues, the shape was his. He put her beside the bed but he stayed beside her, enraptured. He'd never thought about being a father before. When he was a child, fathers weren't dads like they were now, Mikael least of all. Observing the man he thought was his father day by day, he understood that children weren't a joy, they were a duty.

But Delilah didn't seem like a duty. Yes, she was his heir but she was also his child, a member of his family just like Rebekah or Elijah. _Just like Henrik_, he thought. Why had he thought of Henrik? Henrik was dead because of him. _You want to kill her_, rebuked a voice inside his head. Just then two things occurred to him:

A father isn't supposed to doom his child to the fate his father doomed him to.

A father isn't supposed to have to bury his child.

Klaus found some paper at the nurse's station and scribbled a note before jumping into an empty cab and asking to be driven to the airport.

* * *

_Christmas Eve, 2011_

As the private jet touched down in a small airfield outside of Florence, Klaus opened the small window and saw that a small reception committee had gethered. He stepped out of the plane only to be close to tackled by Rebekah. "Nik!" she exclaimed. "Happy Christmas Eve!" as if it was the first one ever in the history of the world.

Behind her, Elijah waited serenely to shake hands with Klaus. Next to him, his hand on the small of her back, was Katherine. "You remember Katerina, don't you, brother?" Elijah growled, obviously not certain that Klaus wouldn't kill his girlfriend.

Katherine didn't seem a bit worried. She tossed her hair and smiled coyly, kissing Klaus on both cheeks. He barely nodded at her.

Klaus barely said anything throughout and after, he shut himself in his room. That's where Rebekah found him a couple of hours later. She didn't beat around the bush: "Hayley called the day she was released from hospital, freaking out. She said you'd just left and you wrote a note saying that the baby was to live a normal human life. Why would leave like that, Nik?"

Rebekah had expected him to crumble into her arms just as he had when he was a boy. But he stayed erect, totally passive. He stated, "She's my family. I can't watch her live and die but she doesn't deserve to be what we are." As he saw her eyes become confused, he lost his temper. "I had to leave, don't you see, Rebekah?!"

She nodded vigorously and pulled him into her arms, where she held him to her chest, rocking him softly. She remembered months ago when she'd been certain he would never be capable of love. What had changed? _Caroline_, she realised. Caroline had saved him this summer. Maybe she could again:"I hope you've been with Caroline since you left the hospital."

He straightened, erasing any kind of trace that he'd been crying. He shook his head. "No, why?"

"She's going to be at the New Year's Eve Ball next week."

* * *

It was December. Caroline hadn't noticed until now, the day before Christmas, when snow began to fall over Mystic Falls. In fact, she might not have even noticed the icy white blanket if she hadn't been waiting for the soaking wet man on the sofa to wake up. She'd stared at him for an hour before finally moving to look through the long windows of the Salvatore Boarding House. Watching, she'd heard the birds go quiet as dark clouds gathered above them, finally dropping the snow they held.

As if by magic, this was the exact moment when Stefan spluttered and opened his eyes. Caroline was by his side in an instant with a fresh cup of animal blood. "Caroline?" he said incredulously. "What happened?"

Caroline herself didn't quite know but she answered anyway, "You disappeared. Nobody's known where you were for months. We all thought you'd left because of the..."

"Because of Elena," Stefan finished morosely before indicating that she should go on.

"Well, a few months ago, I started looking for you and I realised that something was wrong. I spoke to Lexi's ghost and even she had no idea where you were but that she had no idea where you were, only that you had to be around Mystic Falls. I tracked you down and you were in the lake in a box, unconscious," she finished. Unspoken was her question, _What the hell were you doing in box?_

But Stefan was still very inquisitive and he refused to answer any of her questions before she answered his. Reluctantly, she told him everything from the town's recent tragedies to the latest breaking news on CNN. He noticed that she was avoiding any mention of what she'd been doing all summer. Finally, he asked, "So what's been going on with you? Why aren't you in college?"

Caroline tried to say "Nothing," but Stefan knew more than anyone what a bad liar she was and gave her a look. "Don't freak out but I've kind of been in New Orleans all summer... with Klaus."

"Oh, um, what does 'with' mean?"

She bit her lip. "Well, we didn't hook up until halfway through the summer."

"Oh," Stefan repeated.

Caroline was relieved. Confident that Stefan wouldn't judge, she explained, "We ended it. Well, _he _ended it. He couldn't deal with me or something. I guess if you've spent a thousand years without any human feelings, a relationship would be hard. But I'm over it."

In her eyes, Stefan could see that there was more to it. Something must have happened to make Caroline that bitter. Even back in the spring, he'd seen the quiet intensity of their connection. How Klaus couldn't ever say no to her, how Caroline couldn't hate him no matter how many times he hurt the people she loved. He'd never thought that anything would come of it because of how devoted Caroline was to Tyler but after whatever happened in New Orleans, he had trouble seeing how either of them could possibly let go.

Still, Caroline was obviously hurt and he moved to another subject.

They spent the next couple of days at the Boarding House working on Stefan's recovery. Caroline decided that they should hunt three times a day while Stefan got stronger. It was good for her to be back with her friend, usually spending nights getting drunk and watching over-the-top action flicks. The subject of Klaus was more or less completely avoided except for once, when a very waisted Caroline spent half an hour comparing him to Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter.

Stefan felt kind of bad that Caroline was spending so much time helping him so he offered to train her to fight. They came back after one of these sessions to find a letter addressed to Caroline Forbes. She picked it up and opened it as she walked inside. It read:

_You are cordially invited to _

_The Mikaelson New Year's Eve Ball_

_Time: 8pm_

_Place: Villa Katerina, San Angelo, Italy_

_Please RSVP by December 26, 2011_

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Caroline. What game was Klaus playing? She almost checked her room for some kind of creepy stolen dress. Hadn't he said he never wanted to see her again? She was about to throw the invitation in the bin when Stefan stopped her.

"I thought you said Klaus was in New Orleans."

"Yeah, but Elijah is in Italy," Caroline said dubiously.

"Villa Katerina, huh?" he said, barely raising his usually serious. "Honestly, I think you should go. Don't you want to show Klaus what he's missing?"

"No!" said Caroline. "I just can't!

"If you want, I'll come with you. Come on, since when does Caroline Forbes miss a party because her ex is there?"

She had to admit, she was tempted. Subconsciously, she was already planning her out. "Fine," she groaned, searching her phone for Elijah's email. She knew she wasn't being smart but she couldn't resist seeing Klaus again. After all, what could go wrong?

* * *

_New Year's Eve, 2011_

Out of the corner of one eye, Klaus was watching the door of Elijah's Villa. What must have been hundreds of people kept pouring in but it was never the blond beauty he was waiting for. He kept trying to snap himself out of it, try focusing on the people he was talking to, but he was incapable of stopping the dart of his gaze every few seconds. He pictured her walking in and in his mind's eye she looked exactly like she had over a year ago when he told her he fancied her. It seemed childish now because he felt so much more than mere fancying. He loved her. It was for this reason that his heart lept every time he thought he saw her approach and it was also his reason for trying to avert his eye.

Finally, over an hour into the party, Caroline strode into the ballroom, looking totally confident and relaxed. She was dressed to kill. Her makeup was simple but striking and her hair was straight and tied back with a jeweled pin. Her gown was silver, with a bodice stitched with sequins and tiny crystals and a full skirt of shimmering organza. To Klaus, she looked like a star lost on the Earth. He began to stride towards her but her escort, Stefan, led her away. Klaus wasn't sure if he'd noticed him.

Half an hour later, Caroline's original fear of entering a party which Klaus would surely attend had subsided a bit. _Maybe_, she thought, _he isn't here at all. He's probably in New Orleans._ Slowly, she began to enjoy herself. She sipped cocktails - champagne was sure to bring up memories of You-Know-Who- and watched attentively as Stefan flirted with Rebekah after Caroline had assured him that Matt and Rebakah were over. As they excused themselves to join the waltz in the middle of the room, the hopeless romantic in her began to speculate about their future. She was so enraptured in her daydream that when someone tapped her on the shoulder, she jumped, spilling her drink all over the unfortunate man. Amid cries of "I'm so sorry", she began to try and mop him up. The man stopped her, saying "That's quite alright, love."

It was only then that Caroline looked up and found herself staring into Klaus' amused face. She froze. Her knees turned to butter. Her heart began to pace at five hundred miles per hour even though she didn't need it. She felt like she ought to run before risking offence, feeling as if she'd invaded his space. She couldn't move, though, under his quiet gaze. Coolly, he asked, "Would you care to dance?"

Slowly, she nodded, looking down at her feet. Hand in hand, they walked onto the dance floor. His arm fell onto the small of her back and her hand brushed his shoulder. As the dance began, she faced him, her expression as neutral as she could make it. His eyes fell on her like a wolf onto his prey.

But she wasn't prey. She was a strong and fearless vampire who honestly didn't have to tolerate Klaus' hot and cold crap. Without giving him any warning, she pulled herself out of his hold and stalked out of the room. She could hear him behind her. When she disappeared into a quiet, ill-lit room, he followed calling out, "Caroline!"

Finally she stopped and faced him. "What do you want from me?" she cried.

"I could ask you the same question, love. Surely you must have had a reason to come here tonight."

"If I did, I was wrong," she retorted. "This was a mistake." Caroline turned on her heel and would have left if Klaus hadn't stepped into her path and forced her to stay and face him. She let out of groan of frustration. "Let me go!" she ordered.

"No!" said Klaus, unsure of what he wanted her to do or say but fueled by a want for her.

"God! You're infuriating! One day, you're telling me- no, _compelling _me- to leave and the next you're trapping me. I am so tired of your crap!"

Almost abashed, his arms dropped to his side and took a couple of steps away from her. An apology hung in the air, unspoken but acknowledged by both parties. "That day, when Marcel died and I compelled you to leave, you have to know that I was doing what I thought was best for you."

She scoffed. "How the hell could you believe that sending me away from you was good for me? You couldn't deal and you didn't even have the decency to break up with me normally: you had to take away my free will," accused Caroline. She wasn't shouting anymore. In fact, her words were hardly louder than a whisper but they cut him deeper than any screams could have. "And, like the idiot I am, I thought that if I saw you again - if I saw you happy- I could move on.

"Caroline, I'm-"

Putting up a hand to quiet him, she said, "No, let me finish. Over the past few days, I've imagined you being here with Hayley and the baby, all of New Orleans at your feet and that dimpled grin of yours all over your face. I would see you and think 'It's better this way' and I'd leave for some place exotic like Hawaii. Maybe I'd even meet a new guy. But the second I saw you, I realized that I will spend the rest of my immortal life in love with you. But we can never be together. We've hurt each other too much." Caroline closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The door beckoned her towards the light, the music and the safety of the ballroom but she had to say something before she left. "I'm ready to leave this room and never see you again but I can't without knowing why you did what you did. How could you make me leave the moment I needed you the most? I'd just _murdered _somebody! I spent weeks and weeks blaming myself for ruining what we had but then I realized that people who love each other don't leave when things get tough. Why did you run away?" The last question came out in a fit of sobs.

Klaus wished he could hold her and comfort her but her eyes were full of venom. "I thought it was for your own good. You were in danger in New Orleans, I thought I was corrupting you and that it would be for the best if you left. The thing I admire most about you is your light; I couldn't be responsible for you losing it."

Caroline frowned, then nodded. She murmured a "thank you" as she opened the door to leave.

Every bone in Klaus' body told him that he couldn't let her go that easily. "I love you," he called out, confident as anything. "Do you still love me?"

She smiled a little sadly and said, "Of course. I will always love you" She turned on her heel but his hand caught hers, pulling her gently to face him. Their eyes met, two pairs of blue eyes both in love with the person in front of them. Then, impulsively, Klaus traced his hand along her neck and leaned in to kiss her.

Their lips met as the crowd outside cheered, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Then there were fireworks.

**Please write and tell me what you thought as a whole and also about the ending. Click, click, click on that review button as well as the favourite button and if you'd like to read more of my work in the future, please follow and favourite me. **

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**Thanks for reading,**

**Brianne**


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